A day after the attack, which was carried out by two teenagers and claimed by the Islamic State group, French President Francois Hollande gathered religious leaders at the Elysee Palace on Wednesday and vowed to preserve national unity.
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The assault came less than two weeks after an IS-claimed attack in the southern French city of Nice killed 84 people.
Authorities in France are working to piece together any security lapses leading up to the attack.
Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said 4,000 members of the Sentinel military force will patrol Paris, while 6,000 will patrol in the provinces. They are being bolstered by tens of thousands of police and reservists.
The attackers initially took four hostages and stabbed and killed the elderly priest, Rev. Jacques Hamel, who was officiating the mass. He sees a pattern in which innocent people are being killed in such attacks and warned that things could get worse if the problem is not properly addressed.
“They forced (Fr Hamel) to kneel down and he tried to defend himself, which is when the drama began”, she told RMC radio.
“He (the priest) fell down looking upwards, toward us”, said Jeanine.
“I thought it would only be in big cities, that it couldn’t reach here”, she said.
French media said one of the two attackers equipped with knives was a local man and had spent a year in French jail after trying to travel to Syria via Turkey. Town officials are also expected to meet tonight to discuss a public ceremony for the victims, the mayor’s office said.
It was the latest in a wave of attacks in Europe inspired by the Islamist militant group based in Iraq and Syria that is on the defensive against a US-led military coalition in which France is a major partner.
Muslim leader Dalil Boubakeur, rector of Paris’s Grand Mosque, said the leaders “deeply desire that our places of worship are the subject of greater [security] focus, a sustained focus”, as even “the most humble place of worship” can be subject to an attack. He did not elaborate.
Kermiche was reportedly on probation, under house arrest and wearing an ankle monitor when he entered through the back of the church in the quiet town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.
The second attacker has not been identified by authorities.
Mr Sarkozy said: ‘Everything that should have been done the past 18 months was not done. He said that while he would leave Poland, hundreds of young people from his diocese would remain.
Saint Etienne’s stone-and-brick town hall, a short distance from the church, became a communal grieving place as residents signed a condolence book and left candles and flowers.
“We are scared”, said Mulas Arbanu.
Said Aid Lahcen had met the slain priest in the past.
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Anti-terror chiefs have been appointed to take charge of the investigation and have arrested one person in connection with the attack.
