The four were handed sentences of between eight years and life in prison over the attack on Father Jacques Hamel, 85. Fr Hamel was stabbed in his church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray by two 19-year-olds as he finished Mass. Two nuns and an elderly couple were held hostage before the assailants slashed the priest's throat and seriously injured another elderly churchgoer.

The two attackers, Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche, were killed by police as they left the church. The four men on trial were accused of having helped or encouraged the attack.

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He was murdered by Islamic terrorists while celebrating Mass on 26 July 2016. Priests, laity and parishioners say they have been changed by his death.

Hamel's parishioners speak of how it strengthened bonds between them: "In killing Father Hamel, the terrorists attacked us as well," they say.

It has led to renewed fervour and commitment among them.

Parishioners say the cause of their cohesion is Father Hamel himself. Already an intercessor, he could become their patron saint. His beatification process has begun.

Archbishop Dominique Lebrun paid homage to the community during the second anniversary Mass, referring to their closeness and cohesion as a "miracle."

Mass attendance has risen, there are 14 child altar servers (compared to two, previously) and people whom Hamel baptized want their marriages or funerals to be celebrated in Hamel's church, even if they don't live in the parish.

In addition, pilgrims visit the church where Hamel was killed. About twenty groups are expected to visit between now and October.

French priests reflecting on Hamel's example are also noticing how he is changing their lives.

They say changes include a recognising of the need for authenticity and seriousness in ministry. They also notice how older French priests like Hamel embed themselves in local communities, which has led to younger priests developing better understanding and respect for their older confrères.

Younger priests note how older priests are like Hamel in persevering in the small matters of daily life and show constancy in faith even during times of great change.

Hamel's death has raised questions for all of us, one priest says. They wonder: "Are we Christian? Are we ready to give our lives?"

Many priests have been violently killed or threatened in other countries, he said.

Some priests say they remember Hamel for his ongoing dialogue with Muslims. Alongside the Regional Council for the Muslim Faith, he belonged to an interfaith committee created after terrorist attacks in January 2015.

He also insisted on interreligious dialogue.

"Since the assassination, Muslim-Christian dialogue has become stronger at Béziers, particularly with one of the five mosques in the city," said Father Bortheirie, who is from a parish in the city centre.

"Without being naive, I pray that relations between Muslims and Catholics continue despite everything."

Source

• La Croix
• La Croix
• Independent Catholic News
• Image: Aleteria

The two men who killed him claimed allegiance to ISIS.

"We certainly come with many emotions," Hamel said on Tuesday, the day before her brother's anniversary mass at his parish church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, where he was murdered.

"But it is necessary for the memory of my brother and to explain why he left this world in such a tragic way.

"We must not forget that this priest died and that a few minutes before he prayed for peace for the whole world, for peace among peoples."

Hamel says it's "still a bit complicated" for his family to think of Fr Hamel's beatification."

She says her brother was "simple, peaceful and shy," never looked for compliments or rewards "... if not with a ‘thank you' or a smile, and knowing that he had done good to one person or another was enough for him to feel good."

Hamel says her brother's death has left them "with the vivid pain that never leaves us," and a huge responsibility.

"After he passed away, the next day, we saw the strong message that went to all the faithful in the world and that this message will reverberate to believers and non-believers of all nationalities and cultures.

"We can say that Jacques, after this tragedy, became a brother to all," she added.

Hamel has made it her life's work to bring forth the message exemplified by her brother. She often meets with Muslim communities in France in search of "an encounter, and in order to share a better understanding."

Source

• Crux
• Crux
• Catholic Herald
• Image: NewsDaily247

La Croix journalists, Marie Malzac and Gauthier Vaillant, discuss these notions with Fr Jean-Pascal Duloisy, exorcist for the dioceses of the Île-de-France region (Greater Paris) and Olivier Abel, philosopher, professor at the Protestant Institute of Theology in Montpellier, France.

"For Catholics, evil is not an idea"

Fr Jean-Pascal Duloisy:
I welcome Pope Francis' courage for daring to say that killing in the name of God is the mark of a perverted mind, in other words a mind that has lost the meaning of life. It is consequently satanic. Every human life is a gift of God. Attacking life is attacking God, and therefore satanic.

We have never really paid attention to what Pope Francis has said on these questions. We forget that at the very beginning of his papacy, he stated: "When we do not confess Jesus Christ, we are confessing the ordinary existence of the devil." No pope has ever spoken of the devil the way he has.

"Satan, devil, etc." belong to a lexicon we are no longer accustomed to hearing, because human beings tend to forget where evil comes from. Humankind is not the source of evil. Human beings who commit evil acts are victims, puppets who have been duped. Fr Hamel was lucid and clairvoyant when he designated his aggressor saying "Go away, Satan": the youths who killed him and who also died that day were driven by something more powerful than themselves.

They did not know what they were doing, for if they had known, I am convinced they would never have done it: human beings seek the good. Let us remember the words of Christ on the cross: "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." Evil for its own sake or absurd violence is the mark of the devil. Continue reading

Sources

• Marie Malzac and Gauthier Vaillant, writing in Global Pulse
• Image: Wikipedia