At the end of last July, an ISIS soldier came to a Roman Catholic Church in France. There he murdered a priest by stabbing him and then slitting his throat. One of the French nuns fled the scene after seeing the priest was about to be murdered.
Per CNN, “Before she fled, she witnessed the perpetrators gather around the church altar and perform some sort of religious oration in Arabic before forcing Hamel to his knees and placing a knife to his neck, she told the station.”
The police identified two suspects in the attack. One of them was Adel Kermiche. He always told his friends and family he would attack a church. None of them took him seriously.
One friend testified to The Guardian, “One teenager who knew him told RTL radio that when he heard about the church attack he knew Kermiche was involved. He said: ‘I wasn’t surprised. He talked about it all the time. He talked about Islam, the things like this he was going to do. He talked about the Qur’an and Mecca and he told me ‘I’m going to attack a church’. He said this two months ago on leaving the mosque. On my mother’s life I didn’t believe him.’”
Other Nations Boost Security
Germany boosted security in crowded places such as airports and train stations.
Bloomberg reports, “Security services have been on alert in France after a 31-year-old Tunisian with French residency drove a rented 19-ton refrigerator truck through crowds on Nice’s seafront promenade earlier this month, killing 84 people. Germany has also boosted safeguards at airports, train stations and other public places after three deadly attacks carried out by refugees.”
After the terror attack in French, the French President promised to increase anti-terror security forces.
CNN explains, “In response to the heightened terror threat, Hollande has vowed to double the number of officials charged with the task.”
On multiple occasions, Kermiche tried to travel to Syria to join ISIS forces there.
Per The Guardian, “Kermiche was stopped by German police in March 2015 and accused of trying to travel to Syria. He was sent back to France, where he was given conditional parole awaiting trial. Two months later, he tried to enter Syria again, this time via Turkey. He was sent back to France again and was detained in May 2015.”
Operation Mobilization works in France to share Christ’s hope with the Muslims in that country.
Operation Mobilization USA (OM USA) reports, “Around two million Muslims, mainly from North Africa, live in the capital, Paris. A team is working to share God’s love with this community in partnership with local churches and other missions.”
Please pray for OM USA as they share Christ’s hope with Muslims in France.
The Guardian: French priest’s killer was freed from jail despite aiming to join jihadis
CNN: Hollande: Deadly church attack in France carried out in name of ISIS
Bloomberg: Islamic State Claims Attack After Priest Murder in French Church
