In a gesture of solidarity following the killing of a French priest, Muslims attended Mass in churches and cathedrals across France and Italy on Sunday.
Dozens of Muslims gathered at the towering Gothic cathedral in Rouen, near Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, where the 85-year-old priest Fr Jacques Hamel had his throat slit by two teenage Muslim fanatics last week. ISIS has claimed responsibility.
“We are very moved by the presence of our Muslim friends and I believe it is a courageous act that they did by coming to us,” Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen said after the Mass.
Some of the Muslims sat in the front row, across from the altar. Among the parishioners was one of the nuns who was briefly taken hostage at Fr Hamel’s church when he was killed. She joined her fellow Catholics in turning to shake hands or embrace the Muslim churchgoers after the service.
Outside the church, a group of Muslims were applauded when they unfurled a banner: “Love for all. Hate for none.”
Churchgoer Jacqueline Prevot said the attendance of Muslims was “a magnificent gesture.”
“Look at this whole Muslim community that attended Mass,” she said. “I find this very heartwarming. I am confident. I say to myself that this assassination won’t be lost, that it will maybe relaunch us better than politics can do. Maybe we will react in a better way.”
Many of the Muslims who attended the service in Rouen – including those with the banner – were Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect that differs from mainstream Islam in that it doesn’t regard Mohammed as the final prophet.
Similar interfaith gatherings were repeated elsewhere in France, as well as in neighbouring Italy.
Church is praised for its work in rescuing ‘sea slaves’
Catholic pastoral workers play a crucial role in coming to the aid of “sea slaves” – fishermen who are held in inhumane conditions on the high seas for what can be years, a US Department of State official has said.
Kari Johnstone, acting director of the State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons, said the Church’s longstanding ministry with seafarers puts Catholics in a unique position. Catholics are among the first to identify victims of trafficking and provide them needed services no one else may be offering, Ms Johnstone said.
Ms Johnstone was in Rome to meet Vatican officials and attend an advisory group meeting of the Coalition of Organisations and Ministries Promoting the Abolition of Slavery at Sea, or COMPASS.
It is estimated at least 20 million people around the world are living and working in slave-like conditions.
Church personnel “have been playing a critical role and [are] I think increasingly doing so”, Ms Johnstone said. “Missionaries and nuns are providing a lot of services to victims,” she said, because they are often doing pastoral work in ports.
Cathedral takes on Pokémon
Cologne Cathedral has hired a lawyer to tackle the large wave of Pokémon Go players invading the site.
The city’s Express newspaper reported that the cathedral decided to take legal action after the virtual reality game’s manufacturers didn’t react to requests to exclude the ancient building from Pokémon Go.
The dean, Robert Kleine, was quoted as saying: “The cathedral isn’t a playground.”
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