Pope Francis celebrated Mass at St. Martha House on Wednesday, September 14, with members of the community of Rouen, in honour of the French priest who was slain in his church on 26 July: “He is a martyr and was lucid enough to say to his assassin: “Away with you Satan!”
“How I would like for all religious denominations to say: Killing in the name of God is Satanic!” Pope Francis said during a Mass celebrated on September 14 in honour of Jacques Hamel, the French priest who had his throat slit by Islamic fundamentalists last July 26 in the Church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray. A group of around 80 pilgrims from the diocese of Rouen were present along with Bishop Dominique Lebrun. For the first time ever, the Pope’s morning Mass in St. Martha’s House was broadcast live on Catholic news channel TV2000 an aired on Vatican Radio. On the altar a photograph of the martyr priest, rested on two candles. In his brief homily, which a priest translated into French for the congregation, the Pope remarked on the words with which Fr. Hamel faced death.
“Through the Cross of Jesus Christ, the Cross of today’s Church,” the Pope said, “we comprehend the mystery of Jesus Christ, a mystery of annihilation and closeness to us. “Existing in the form of God, Paul says, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. He humbled Himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross. This is the mystery of Christ.”
“This is a mystery that becomes martyrdom for the salvation of men. Jesus Christ is the first martyr, the first to give his life for us and from this mystery of Christ begins the entire story of Christian martyrdom , from the earliest centuries until today. The first Christians professed Jesus, paying for it with their lives. The early Christians were pointed in the direction of apostasy, “ in other words, make sacrifices to our gods and “when they did not follow this path, when they refused to become apostates, they were killed”.
“This story,” Francis said, “repeats itself today. Today the Church has more Christian martyrs than in the early days. Today there are Christians being murdered, tortured, incarcerated and slaughtered because they will not reject Jesus Christ. This brings us to the story of our Fr. Jacques. He is part of a chain of Christian martyrs, who are suffering imprisonment, death or torture because they refuse to reject Christ, highlighting the cruelty of this persecution.”
This cruelty which “calls for apostasy,” Francis said, “is satanic! HowI would like it if all religious denominations said: killing in the name of God is satanic! Fr. Jacques Hamel was slain on the Cross, just as he was celebrating Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross. A good, gentle, fraternal man who always sought to bring peace, was killed as if he were a common criminal. This is the satanic motif of persecution. This man accepted his martyrdom with Christ at the altar. It really makes me think, the fact that at that difficult moment he was going through and in the face of the tragedy he saw coming, this good man remained lucid enough to accuse his assassin and call him by his name. He said clearly: Away with you Satan!”. He gave his life for us, in order not to reject Jesus. Just as Jesus sacrificed himself, he gave his own life at the altar. And from there he called out to his persecutor, “Away with you Satan!”
“This example of courage and martyrdom, of emptying oneself to help others and being fraternal,” the Pope concluded, “helps all of us to go on without fear. We must pray to him, he is a martyr and martyrs are blessed. We must pray to him asking him to grant us gentleness, fraternity, peace and also the courage to tell the truth. Killing in the name of God is satanic!”
