The brutal murder of a parish priest at his altar has focused attention on the delicate relationship between Church and state in a land still divided over the place of religion in society
At 85, Fr Jacques Hamel probably expected to live out his life of service to the Church as the humble French parish priest he’d always been, appreciated by his parishioners but hardly known beyond his diocese of Rouen. But two young radical Islamists changed all that last week when they broke into his morning Mass and slit his throat at the altar. Fr Hamel immediately became a symbol of a country under siege, a single target whose death was as symbolic as the massacres of much larger groups of innocent victims over the past year and a half.
The reaction from French society was swift and clear. President François Hollande rushed to the scene. “Attacking a church and killing a priest profanes the Republic,” he declared. “Catholics were hit, but all French are concerned.” The Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, said: “We see what the goal is – to set the French against each other [and] provoke a war of religion.” Newspaper headlines spoke of “barbarism” and a “martyr Church”.
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