Police said one person had been arrested in connection with the attack.
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Prosecutor Francois Molins said the attackers, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State group, also cried “Allahu akbar” during the attack. And so police responded very quickly within about 20 minutes but unfortunately not before this priest had been killed.
Religious leaders in France have called for authorities to boost security at places of worship after a priest was murdered in a Normandy church. The worshiper’s condition was not immediately released. This was the first attack inside a French church in recent history.
“We offer our condolences to the family and friends of the murdered priest, Father Jacques Hamel”.
Shocked residents in Saint Etienne du Rouvray in Normandy have paid their respects with candles and flowers after the brutal killing of a catholic priest.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the Parisian anti-terror prosecutor would take on the investigation.
Brandet said the RAID special intervention force was searching the perimeter of the church ahead of entering for possible explosives and terrorism investigators had been summoned. Following the Nice attack, France extended its state of emergency, giving police extra powers to carry out searches and place people under house arrest. Hamel had been serving in the parish of Saint-Etienne-de-Rouvray since 2005.
He warned the faithful against giving in to feelings of vengeance and anger and urged Catholics in France to fast on Sunday in homage to the slain priest. We are devastated. This emotion goes beyond our town. It plunges our entire country in a deep pain, only days after the attack in Nice.
Flags will be flown at half-mast throughout the municipality, the mayor’s office added.
The Islamist militant threat to France and Europe has never been so severe as now, he said, pointing that the war against terrorism both overseas and at home will be long.
“We are confronted with a group, Daesh, which has declared war on us”, Hollande said, using an alternative name for the group.
CIGAINERO: Francois Hollande said this is a vile act, and he said to attack a Christian church is to profane France.
The Vatican has condemned the “barbarous killing”, saying Pope Francis was horrified by the news.
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“The Catholic Church can take up no other weapons than prayer and fraternity between men”, he said in a statement.
