Fr. Jacques Hamel, The French Priest Murdered By The Islamic State, Is To Be Beatified
A French priest who was killed by the Islamic State during Mass last year is now on his first step to canonization, news reports say.
Roman Catholic priest Father Jacques Hamel was giving morning Mass in his Normandy church when two 19-year-old jihadists killed him by slitting his throat in front of the altar, while his congregants were taken hostage.
Hamel, who was 85 at the time, was already retired for a decade but asked to remain active in the parish so he could continue to serve in the church, the Archdiocese of Rouen told The Guardian. He officiated mass regularly as an auxiliary at the church in St Étienne-du-Rouvray, near Rouen, and in neighbouring Elbeuf.
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According to Archbishop Dominique Lebrun, Hamel told one of his two assailants in the final moments before his death, "Be gone, Satan!"
The Rouen diocese wants Hamel to be beatified, the first step towards canonization or sainthood in Catholic tradition.
Usually, a miracle performed by the candidate is required before they can be beatified. This requirement, however, can be waived if the person who died is proven to have died a martyr for the faith.
Pope Francis, speaking at a special mass in 2016, said Fr. Hamel indeed died a martyr, "and martyrs are beatified," Reuters reported.
Father Hamel according to the people
Fr. Hamel is remembered for being a modest and dedicated man who was always available for his parishioners. Hervé Morin, president of the Rouen diocese's regional council, said Hamel "was a good man."
The manager of a beauty parlor down the road from the church where Father Hamel was killed told L'Express magazine that they were devastated by his death.
"My family have been here for 35 years and we have always known him," the female manager, who met Hamel as a young girl, said. "He did not like to put himself forward. He was someone who was very much appreciated in the local community."
"This was a man who did his job to the very end," a neighbor also told L'Express magazine. "He was old, but always available for everyone. He was a good priest. He had been here for many years; he lived in the rectory here. Many parishioners knew him very well."
