Pope Francis has declared that a French priest slain by Islamic extremists is a martyr, while urging all religions to denounce those who kill in the name of God.
The Pope made his remarks while celebrating a Mass this morning in memory of Fr Jacques Hamel, an 85-year-old cleric who had his throat slit when two armed men stormed the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy on 26 July.
“He is part of the chain of martyrs,” Francis said during a homily in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, at his home in the Vatican. “This man accepted his martyrdom with the martyrdom of Christ at the altar.”
The Pope went on to urge people to pray for Fr Hamel’s intercession declaring that the French priest, whom he described as “blessed”, was in heaven indicating that a cause of canonisation would proceed quickly.
Francis celebrated the Mass at 7am - live streamed by the Vatican’s YouTube and television channels - with the Archbishop of Rouen, Dominique Lebrun, and 80 pilgrims from the archdiocese where Fr Hamel had been serving as a retired priest.
Today, the Pope explained, there are Christians who are killed and tortured because they “don’t deny Christ” and Francis said that such actions were motivated by the devil - he then pointed out that Fr Hamel had said “go away, Satan” as he knelt down before his death.
“This cruelty that asks for apostasy - let’s say the word - is satanic,” the Pope said. “And how much good it would do if all religious denominations were saying: ‘killing in the name of God is satanic’.”
The Pope did not single out any religion during his homily but following Fr Hamel’s murder he told journalists it was wrong to equate Islam with violence as there were extremists in every religion.
And during this morning’s Mass Francis argued that Fr Hamel’s murder should build up fraternity among humanity describing him as a “humble, good man, who worked for fraternity”.
Francis ended his homily today by asking for Fr Hamel and other martyrs to “give us meekness, brotherhood, peace, and even the courage to tell the truth".
PICTURE (TOP): Roselyne Hamel, of France, holds a picture of her brother, Fr Jacques Hamel, as she attends a press conference with the Bishop of Rouen Dominique Lebrun at the Vatican
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