Father Hamel had his throat cut when two men stormed his church during Mass.
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The service – attended by French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve – was to be followed by a private burial. Hundreds who could not enter the edifice watched the ceremony on a large screen that was installed in front of the cathedral.
This file picture obtained on the website of the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray parish on July 26, 2016 shows late priest Jacques Hamel celebrating a mass on June 11, 2016 in the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy.
“He chose to serve God so that he can cultivate love and sharing and tolerance among people of all faiths and denominations, believers and non-believers, throughout his life”, she said, according to the broadcaster.
Sky’s Tom Rayner, who is in Rouen, said: “We are expecting to hear from Father Hamel’s sister today during the service and we will also have readings and speeches from religious and potentially political figures”.
The 85-year-old priest was knifed to death last Tuesday when two jihadist attackers burst into his church in the small town of Saint-Etienne-du Rouvray during Mass and took several people hostage before they were killed by police.
Religious officials sit during the funeral mass for Father Jacques Hamel at the Rouen cathedral, Normandy, Tuesday, Aug.2, 2016.
Thousands of mourners have attended the funeral mass of Jacques Hamel, the Catholic priest murdered in his own church by Islamic extremists.
Father Hamel was to have been buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location that has not been revealed.
The killing of the elderly priest in a house of worship rocked France, already stunned by a string of Islamist attacks, including one on Bastille Day in Nice that left 84 people dead.
While Paris Imam Dalil Boubakeur said France’s Muslims must push for a better training of Muslim clerics, and he also called for a reform of French Muslim institutions to be on the agenda.
The pair had sworn allegiance to so-called Islamic State in a video before the attack.
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Petitjean’s 30-year-old cousin was charged Sunday with “criminal association in connection with terrorism”.
