Already a subscriber? Log in to hide ads. During the funeral for a Roman Catholic priest killed at the altar by militants, French religious leaders again insisted that an attack on a church would not sow the division intended by ISIS-linked attackers. Updated Aug. Thousands of Catholics, Muslims, and others met Tuesday for the funeral of a French priest who was murdered during Mass, as religious leaders prepare to fight more actively against terror in officially secular France.
Religious leaders used the funeral service to reiterate a point they made within days of the attack by Islamic State militants on the Roman Catholic church: faith's potential to foster dialogue and understanding, despite terrorists' use of religion to justify violence — and a clear, unified message of defiance in challenging the idea that ISIS can define their faith or their response to violence.
Dominique Lebrun, the archbishop of Rouen, presided over the service for the priest Jacques Hamel at the Normandy cathedral. The archbishop thanked the Muslim attendees "in the name of all Christians," saying, "In this way you are affirming that you reject death and violence in the name of God," as Voice of America reported.
During the service for the priest of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, who was murdered while celebrating Mass on July 26, Lebrun called the strict privatization of French faith "an error," and thanked "believers of other religious faiths, in particular the Jewish community and the Muslim community, very affected and already decided to unite for: 'Never again.
Hundreds of mourners from many faiths also stood in the rain outside the cathedral, watching the service on a screen in the square, the Associated Press reported, following a weekend which saw Muslims and Catholics attending Mass in France and Italy to show solidarity following the attack.
