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Following Tuesday’s murder of a French priest, Fr Jacques Hamel the Vatican issued an initial statement about the dreadful incident.
Speaking on behalf of Pope Francis, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said: “It is new, terrible news which unfortunately adds to a series of violent attacks that in recent days have already disturbed us, creating immense pain and concern.
“We are following the situation and we await further information to better understand what happened.
The Pope has been informed and participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence, with the most radical condemnation of all forms of hatred and prayer for those affected.
We are particularly affected because this horrific violence took place in a church, a sacred place where the love of God is proclaimed, with the barbaric killing of a priest and the involvement of the faithful.
We are close to the Church in France, to the archdiocese of Rouen, to the affected communities, to the French people.”
Lombardi added that the Pope was particularly appalled by the “barbaric killing” because it happened in a sacred place.
The Islamic State says the attack was carried out by two of its “soldiers”.
In what has become a sadly familiar response to terror attacks in Europe, people used social media to express their shock and outrage.
But this time the emotional memes and hashtags also reflected the fact that a church was the target of an attack and an 84-year-old priest, Fr Jacques Hamel, was the victim.
The “I am” hashtag has become the default way of showing solidarity after it first emerged when gunmen attacked the Paris offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January 2015.
Source:
- National Catholic Register
- Zenit
- www.bbc.com
- Image: Pixabay
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News category: World.
