Christians, Muslims to Mourn Murdered French Priest
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Muslim and Christian groups will hold vigils Saturday for a French priest murdered by terrorists in his church, as police charged a man in connection with the brutal attack that has plunged the nation into mourning again.
Father Jacques Hamel had his throat slit on the altar by Daesh-inspired attackers who stormed his church in a Normandy town during mass Tuesday.
A regional Muslim council has planned a "brotherhood march" in Lyon, while a church in Bordeaux said it would hold a non-denomination vigil for the 85-year-old priest.
Prayers were also planned at the Eglise Saint-Etienne where the killing took place, the latest in a nation shaken by three major terrorist attacks in the last 18 months.
French authorities Friday filed the first charges tied to the attack against a 19-year-old man accused of "criminal conspiracy with terrorists" over a mobile phone video that police discovered at his home, a judicial source said, AFP reported.
Three days before the church attack authorities discovered the video that showed one of the assailants, Abdel Malik Petitjean, pledging allegiance to Daesh and speaking of "a violent action." Petitjean and his accomplice Adel Kermiche, both 19, were both killed by police in the attack.
Three other people are also being held by authorities for questioning.
