Slain French priest told his attackers, ‘Go away, Satan’

The archbishop of Rouen, leading Tuesday’s solemn funeral Mass for an elderly priest slain a week ago by two extremists, said the Rev. Jacques Hamel tried to push away his attackers with his feet, saying, “Go away, Satan,” remarks that underscored the horror of the killing at the altar that touched a chord throughout France.

Hundreds of priests and bishops filled the sumptuous Rouen cathedral along with many hundreds more people, including Muslims who have joined in the grieving since the killing of the 85-year-old priest, slashed by his attackers while celebrating morning Mass.

Hamel’s grisly death sent shock waves that went beyond his humble work as a small-town parish priest, touching other faiths and all of France. It came less than two weeks after 84 people were killed in an attack by a hurtling truck in Nice on a crowd of Bastille Day revelers.

“Evil is a mystery. It reaches heights of horror that take us out of the human,” Archbishop Dominique Lebrun said during the two-hour funeral Mass.

“Isn’t that what you wanted to say, Jacques, with your last words, when you fell to the ground? After you were struck by the knife, you tried to push away your assailants with your feet and said, ‘Go away, Satan.’ You repeated it, ‘Go away, Satan.’”

With those words, Lebrun said, “You expressed ... your faith in the goodness of humans and that the devil put his claws in.”

Roselyne Hamel, the priest’s sister, told the crowd, “Let’s learn to live together. Let’s be workers for peace.”

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, also in charge of faiths, was among those attending the Mass in the cathedral, which dates from the 12th century. Hundreds of people watched the ceremony on a big screen outside under constant rain.

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Lebrun, celebrating the Mass, extended thanks to Catholics attending the service but also to “believers of other religious faiths, in particular the Jewish community and the Muslim community, very affected and already decided to unite for ‘Never again.’”

Lebrun invited people to return to churches on Aug. 15, the day celebrating the Assumption of Mary, to express that “violence will not take over in their hearts.”

On Sunday, dozens of Muslims in France and Italy attended Catholic Masses as a gesture of interfaith solidarity after the attack on the priest.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which the priest, two nuns and an elderly couple were held hostage before the assailants slashed the priest’s throat and seriously wounded the other man. Another nun at the Mass slipped away and raised the alarm, and police shot to death both attackers as they left the church.

Tuesday’s ceremony was organized under tight security, and the burial was private.

Meanwhile, several cities and towns across the country have decided to cancel traditional August fireworks shows and other outdoor summer events, citing security reasons.

After the Nice attack, Avignon and smaller towns canceled their fireworks displays and authorities in Marseilles called off an air show by the renowned Patrouille de France scheduled for next week, an event that draws crowds of more than 100,000 people every year.

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