Huge crowd attend funeral for French priest killed at altar

France: Hundreds of mourners crammed into the cathedral of Rouen, in western France on Tuesday, for the funeral of the Catholic priest who was killed by two Islamic extremists at his church alter last week in the nearby town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.


Father Jacques Hamel 85 was leading morning mass in nearby town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray last Tuesday when two Islamist terrorist stormed the church, forced him to his knees and slit his throat while chanting in Arabic.

The Mass was conducted amid tight security by Rouen's archbishop, Dominique Lebrun with France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve in attendance.
 
A procession of senior clergy was followed by pallbearers who carried Hamel’s coffin through the “Door of Mercy” and placed it on an ornate rug before the altar.
The priest’s sister, Roselyne Hamel in a speech to the congregation spoke of how her brother during his military service in Algeria had refused an officer’s rank so as not give the order to kill, and how he once came out as the sole survivor in a desert shootout.

“He would often ask himself: ‘Why me?’ Today, Jacques, our brother, your brother, you have your answer: Our God of love and mercy chose you to be at the service of others,” she said.