FRANCE – Monument to be unveiled in memory of martyr Fr Hamel – ACN Malta

FRANCE – Monument to be unveiled in memory of martyr Fr Hamel

A year after French priest Jacques Hamel was murdered, he is to be remembered at a Mass in the church of Saint Stephen in Sainte-Etienne-du-Rouvray, on the outskirts of the city of Rouen, some 80 kilometres north-west of Paris.

The Archbishop of Rouen, Monsignor Dominique Lebrun, will preside over the memorial Mass, which will be held at 9:00 am, the time when Father Hamel was brutally murdered by two terrorists as he was celebrating Mass. Afterwards at 10:50 am the community of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray will unveil a commemorative monument for peace and fraternity. In the evening, Vespers will be held at 6:00 pm in the Basilica of Notre Dame de Bon, followed by prayers before Father Hamel’s tomb.

On September 14, a few weeks after Father Hamel’s murder, the Holy Father Francis celebrated Mass, in the Chapel of his Saint Martha’s residence, in memory of this priest. Twenty-four pilgrims of the diocese of Rouen and their Archbishop, Monsignor Dominique Lebrun attended the Mass. During the homily, the Holy Father exhorted to pray to Father Hamel: “He is a martyr; he is a Blessed,” he said.

The following day, September 15, Archbishop Lebrun gave Father Hamel’s Breviary to Saint Bartholomew’s Basilica in the Roman Tiberina Island. The Breviary was placed in the memorial of the 20^th and 21^st Century martyrs.

On April 22 of this year, Pope Francis took part in a Liturgy of the Word in this Shrine, entrusted to Sant’Egidio Community, in memory of the “new martyrs” of the 20^th and 21^stcenturies.

Father Jacques Hamel’s process of Beatification began on April 13, 2017, thanks to the Pope’s waiving of the mandatory five-year waiting period for the opening of such a cause.

ACN Malta