This photo shows a French police officer standing guard outside the Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray city hall in Normandy, France. This scene takes place after two of attackers violently stormed a nearby Catholic church and took hostages with deadly results. The knife-wielding duo left one priest dead, and the details are gruesome.
The Guardian reveals how five people, including a priest and two nuns, were present in the church when the attack happened. The situation ended when police killed the assailants, but not before they slit the priest’s neck. Father Jacques Hamel was 84. French Interior Ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet revealed that one of the hostages remains in serious condition.
French President Francois Hollande also spoke to the media and relayed how the assailants pledged allegiance to ISIS during the event: “Daesh has declared war on us. We have to win that war … All people feel affected, so we must have cohesion … no one can divide us. Terrorists will not give up on anything until we stop them.” ISIS recently claimed responsibility for a truck rampage in Nice, France, which killed 84 people during a Bastille Day celebration.
A Vatican spokesperson, Federico Lombardi, relayed a message from Pope Francis, who declared “the most severe condemnation of all forms of hatred.” Francis added that he “shares the pain and horror of this absurd violence.”
This France 24 television report provides more words from Pope Francis.
(Via CNN, The Guardian & France 24)