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The murder of Father Jacques Hamel: A tragedy that shook Christians and Muslims
Ten years ago, on 26 July 2016, Father Jacques Hamel, pastor of the parish of Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray in northern France, was murdered while celebrating Mass. Two terrorists who had pledged allegiance to the so-called Islamic State slit his throat. One member of the congregation who was attending Mass was also seriously injured.
By Jean-Charles Putzolu
Several commemorative events are being held in France to mark the tenth anniversary of the murder of Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed in his church on 26 July 2016. Interfaith initiatives focused on fostering mutual understanding between Christians and Muslims, as well as exhibitions, prayer services, and times of fellowship, are being organized, particularly in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, President of the French Bishops’ Conference, will preside over a Mass that will be broadcast on Sunday by France’s public television channels.
While preserving the memory of these events is important for younger generations, it is also necessary to recognize that relations between Christians and Muslims in France have evolved over the past ten years, even though much remains to be done and mistrust remains susceptible to political and ideological manipulation.
Vatican News interviewed Dominican Father Jean-François Bour, Director of the National Service for Relations with Muslims of the French Bishops’ Conference.
Father Jean-François Bour, how did the murder of Father Hamel advance Christian-Muslim dialogue?
Dialogue between Christians and Muslims, at least in France, has never been reducible to simple cordial relations, even before 2016. A relationship had already begun to develop during the 1950s. The Church in France established a dedicated office for relations with Muslims as early as 1973, enabling Catholic Christians engaged in this work to deepen their understanding of Islam and to gain a fuller appreciation of the complexity of Muslim history and the inner workings of the Islamic faith. However, if we are looking for a real turning point, we should place it around 2001. The attacks on the World Trade Center in New York prompted a profound awakening. From that moment on, people began asking why certain movements chose terrorist violence, and a broad process of reflection began.
What changed after that initial wake-up call in 2001 and following the terrorist attacks that struck France during the 2010s?
Among Muslims, for example, there was a profound shock. For many of them, it was deeply painful because they had never received, from previous generations, an understanding of Islam that encouraged violence or chaos. They suddenly became aware that jihadist and terrorist movements existed. After Father Hamel’s murder, we saw high-level Muslim delegations come to France. They met with bishops in Paris and traveled to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray to express their condolences and publicly condemn the attack.
Did those Muslims who rejected violence, to some extent, take the initiative in promoting dialogue?
I would not say they formally took the initiative. But they understood that it was necessary to launch a new stage in a dialogue that already existed—a dialogue in which Christians had generally been the more proactive participants. The Secretary General of the Muslim World League, who serves as the global representative of Saudi Arabia’s Wahhabi tradition, also came to Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray. Together with Archbishop Dominique Lebrun, he took part in a memorial vigil. These religious leaders understood that, even if they represented a certain Islamic conservatism—a rigorism that can lend itself to a rather assertive form of Islam—it was absolutely necessary to promote a different message.
Is there not also, among Christians, a lack of understanding of the other that makes it easy for walls of mistrust to arise?
In the wake of tragedies like these, we see ordinary people stand up and say that such violence does not represent them. We see this among Muslims, among Christians, and even among non-believers. They say they reject this kind of extremism. Many of them have realized that they need to join organizations devoted to dialogue and to demonstrate their commitment through concrete gestures. I was particularly moved, for example, by the way a Muslim of Comorian origin painted and donated a portrait of Father Hamel preaching in his church. Muslims also came to Father Hamel’s grave in the cemetery at Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray to lay flowers.
Ten years later, Father Hamel’s murder may seem like a distant and abstract event to many young people. How important is it to preserve its memory?
That is certainly the greatest challenge. In Father Hamel’s story, Muslims clearly recognized that the tragedy of a man’s death was compounded by the horror of his being murdered while engaged in prayer. Many Muslims expressed their shock and complete revulsion at such violence committed during an act of worship. Among many young Christians in France today, there is also a sense of uncertainty and distress. More broadly, throughout French society—among Christians and non-Christians alike—there is a widespread anxiety that has even permeated the country’s political climate. That is why the educational challenge is so important today.
The message of dialogue, forgiveness, and reconciliation issued by the Church in France in the immediate aftermath of Father Hamel’s murder also greatly surprised and reassured the French authorities.
For decades, we have been developing a theological and pastoral reflection on Islam and on Christian-Muslim dialogue in France. This did not begin in 2016. The Church in France fulfilled its responsibility by insisting that all Muslims cannot be held responsible for Father Hamel’s death, nor for the terrorist attacks committed by individuals who had embraced a deadly ideology.
Ten years after this tragedy, what obstacles still stand in the way of fully peaceful interreligious dialogue?
The greatest obstacle to interreligious dialogue today is the belief that there are more pressing concerns—that we are living in a time confronted by so many challenges that interreligious dialogue is no longer a priority. There is a temptation to give up, to adopt a defensive posture, and to make Christian life or evangelization into a kind of bulwark against Muslims. We do hear that kind of rhetoric from time to time, though thankfully not from everyone. I believe we must move beyond that. I would strongly encourage everyone to roll up their sleeves and believe that we are capable of speaking to one another and understanding one another. In my view, what is needed now is renewed effort and renewed commitment.
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