French Cardinal on Hollande’s visit to Vatican

French Cardinal on Hollande’s visit to Vatican

(Vatican Radio)  French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, spoke of the significance of Wednesday’s private meeting between Pope Francis and President Francois Hollande in the Vatican and about the mood in France following the recent murder of a French priest near Rouen. Cardinal Barbarin was interviewed by Vatican Radio’s French Service shortly after the meeting was announced.  

Cardinal Barbarin noted that President Hollande had telephoned the Pope almost immediately after the “horrific” murder of 85 year old Father Jacques Hamel who had his throat slit while celebrating Mass in his church near the city of Rouen on July 26th. The perpetrators were two young French terrorists of North African origin. He said the conversation between the Pope and the French leader following that brutal act was “good, brotherly and moving.”

Asked whether there was a climate of revenge in France following Father Hamel’s murder, Cardinal Barbarin said mutual respect between Christians and Muslims must prevail over any desire for revenge. He said he and many other churchmen were touched by the fact that so many Muslims came to Mass in Rouen and other places across France on the Sunday following the murder of Fr. Hamel as a sign of respect. Many, he said, he said, came bearing gifts as well. 

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