France marks decade since Father Hamel's murder at altar with call for peace and fraternity

Decade after the altar murder

On 26 July 2016, two 19-year-old jihadists, Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, burst into the church of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass. They stabbed Father Jacques Hamel, 85, multiple times at the altar, killing him, and seriously wounded parishioner Guy Coponet, 86. Three nuns and another parishioner were taken hostage. Police of the BRI unit stormed the church around 11 a.m. and shot both attackers dead. The group État islamique claimed responsibility that afternoon.

Commemorations and mass

Ten years to the day, the town organised several moments of reflection. A mass at 11 a.m. inside the same church was presided over by Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, president of the French Bishops' Conference. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu then addressed the congregation. The municipality used the occasion to renew what it called "a message of peace and fraternity."

Political and religious figures gather

François Hollande, who was president at the time of the attack, attended alongside current Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and Bernard Cazeneuve, who held that post in 2016. Former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe, also mayor of Le Havre, was invited together with all mayors of Seine-Maritime and around a hundred other local elected officials.

Resilience and a peace motto

Since the attack, Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray changed its official motto to "mieux vivre ensemble" (live better together) and developed a memorial project. A book titled "Revivre ensemble" (Living together again) collects the testimony of 13 witnesses, including Roseline Hamel, the priest's sister, and Mohamed Karabila. Mayor Joachim Moyse said:

“Resilience is a long road. We cannot stay frozen.”

Anne Coponet, whose parents were among the hostages, recalled: "Something brought people back together. They didn't rebel. You might have feared a flood of hate because there's a large Muslim community here. The two communities, Christian and Muslim, tried to work on something." Hubert Wulfranc, mayor in 2016, added: "The cohesion that could have unravelled was strengthened."

Last year, Father Hamel was posthumously awarded the National Medal of Recognition for Victims of Terrorism.