One of the jihadists who murdered an elderly French priest
smiled as he carried out the attack, and nuns who witnessed the grisly murder
said the killers spoke about the Quran.
The two nuns who were in the church when Father Jacques
Hamel was killed , his throat slit on the altar, said the men appeared
aggressive and nervous during the attack at the Eglise Saint-Etienne in
Normandy on July 26.
“I got a smile from the second (man). Not a smile of
triumph, but a soft smile, that of someone who is happy,” nun Sister Huguette
Peron told Catholic newspaper La Vie on Friday.
Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche , both 19, had
pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and both were killed by police in
the shock attack.
The men stormed the 17th-century stone church during mass in
the town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, taking several hostages before killing
the priest and seriously wounding another captive.
One nun fled the scene and alerted the police, leaving
Sister Huguette and Sister Helene Decaux, both in their 80s, in the church with
the jihadists.
Muslims put flowers and hold a minute of silence on July 29,
2016 in front of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray church, western France, where Fr. Jacques Hamel was killed on July 26.
At one point, Sister Helene got tired and asked to sit down.
“I asked for my cane, he gave it to me,” she said. Then the men started talking
about religion, asking the nun if she was familiar with the Quran.
“Yes, I respect it like I respect the Bible, I’ve read
several suras. And those that hit me in particular are the suras about peace,”
Sister Helene responded.
One of the attackers replied: “Peace, it’s what we want...
as long as there are bombs on Syria, we will continue our attacks. And they
will happen every day. When you stop, we will stop.”
Neighbours and acquaintances said Kermiche was “obsessed”
with going to Syria, where an international coalition including France is
carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group.
“Are you afraid to die?” one of the attackers asked. The nun
said no, then he said: “Why?”
“I believe in God, and I know I will be happy” Sister Helene
said, as she quietly prayed to herself.
Then they started talking about God. “Jesus cannot be God
and a man. It is you who are wrong,” one of the men said. “Maybe, but too bad,”
Sister Huguette replied.
At that moment, she prepared for her own death, not knowing
what was coming next.
“Thinking I was going to die, I offered my life to God” she
added.
-HT
No comments:
Post a Comment
All rights reserved. This material and any other material on this site may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, written or distributed in full or in part, without written permission from WISEMEN
<===============================================>
WISEMEN is highly honoured to have you as our esteemed reader.
You are encouraged to make comments to any post herein.
However, we shall not be responsible for use of foul language, it is against our professional ethics.
Help build a better Society!