Two attackers killed a priest and seriously wounded another hostage in a church in northern France before being shot by police.
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But this time the emotional memes and hashtags also reflected the fact that a church was the target of an attack and an 84-year-old priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, was the victim.
Chilling reports are emerging about this morning’s deadly attack in the church at St-Etienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, in the Normandy region of France.
The priest, who was 86 years old, was killed from stabs to the neck and torso, the Paris prosecutor said.
Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said in a statement Tuesday that the attack hits particularly hard “because this horrific violence took place in a church, a sacred place in which the love of God is announced”.
Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve traveled to the town, which is located near Rouen in Normandy.
A statement published by the IS-affiliated Amaq news agency said Tuesday’s attack was carried out by “two soldiers of the Islamic State” who acted in response to calls to target nations in the USA -led coalition fighting the extremist group in Iraq and Syria. (IS) during their attack.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls expressed his horror at what he called “a barbaric attack on a church”. He says that commitment will not waver because of Tuesday’s attack in the small northwestern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
Besides the slain priest, two nuns and two churchgoers had been taken hostage, CNN French affiliate BFMTV reported.
A somber quiet surrounded Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a suburb of the medieval city of Rouen composed of genteel residential neighborhoods and working-class quarters with massive apartment blocks.
A witness also said he had threatened to attack a church. A church was targeted previous year, but the attack never was carried out.
That is the town where two assailants claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group slit the throat of a priest and took hostages before being shot to death by police.
“In the face of this threat that has never been greater in France and Europe, the government is absolutely determined (to defeat) terrorism”, President Hollande said in a televised address.
An AFP journalist said the scene of the attack was crawling with emergency vehicles and police.
She said she managed to flee as they were preparing to kill him.
Mohammed Karabila, the president of Normandy’s Regional Council of the Muslim Faith, who worked with Father Hamel on an interfaith committee, described him as “a man of peace” who “dedicated his life to his ideas and religion”.
“More than ever, all over Europe, solidarity and cooperation will be essential in the fight against barbarity and to ensure that our shared values prevail”, Jean-Claude Juncker wrote.
“We are particularly shocked because this disgusting violence took place in a church in which God’s love is announced”, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said.
He made two attempts at travelling to Syria from Turkey and was known to the security services.
The second attacker has not been identified.
France remains on high alert almost two weeks after Tunisian Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel ploughed a truck into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice, killing 84 people and injuring over 300. It said the Pope had been informed of the attack and shared the pain and horror in response to the “absurd violence”.
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The priest, 84, was killed after two extremists slit his throat during morning mass Tuesday.
