Religion of Peace: 2 Islamic State Hostage Takers Killed After Slitting Priest’s Throat In Assault On French Church

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In what appears to be the latest European terrorist attack which took place early on Tuesday morning, two men claiming allegiance to Islamic State killed a priest by slitting his throat and gravely injured another person during morning Mass at a church in a northern French town.  Investigators are treating the assault as a terror attack, the Paris prosecutor’s office said in a statement. French President François Hollande said that the attackers had claimed allegiance to the extremist group.

Men wielding knives entered the church in the small town of Saint Etienne du Rouvray in Normandy and took five hostages, including the priest, who was found with his throat cut, police said. Another person was left “between life and death,” a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said.

As the WSJ reports, a spokesman for the French Bishops Conference identified the priest as Jacques Hamel, the parish’s auxiliary priest. Police surrounded the church and shot the two men as they exited the building, said a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi branded the attack in Normandy a “barbarous killing” that “unfortunately has been added to the series of violence in recent days that has upset us.”

Pope Francis “is informed and shares the pain and horror of this absurd violence,” Father Lombardi said. Mr. Hollande and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve were on their way to the town, government officials said. – READ MORE

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