The bells of every Catholic Church in Strasbourg rang for 10 minutes last week to honour the victims of a terror attack at a Christmas market the previous day.
On December 11, a shooter opened fire on the crowd, killing three people and injuring 12 others. Police said Cherif Chekatt (29), presumably linked to radical Islam, fled the scene after he was injured by soldiers. The attacker was said to have yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ (Allah is the greatest) during the incident. Police said the suspect was radicalised while in prison. He was later shot dead by police.
“Once again, once again, terrorist violence has struck us,” Archbishop Luc Ravel of Strasbourg said in a December 12 statement. He said he felt the same “vertigo” he had after the 2015 terror attacks in Paris.
“Vertigo in front of the lucid madness of the assassin, who should not make anyone believe that his act is rational or religious. It is absolutely necessary that all religious authorities rigorously denounce this vicious rapprochement between God and terrorism,” wrote Archbishop Ravel.
Pope Francis expressed his “sadness and concern” after learning of the attack in Strasbourg, as well as his “firm condemnation against such acts”.
In a telegram sent December 12 by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, the Pope offered prayers for the victims, the wounded and their families.
“As he entrusts the deceased to God’s mercy, the Holy Father sends a special thought for the professionals and volunteers who are taking care of the wounded,” Cardinal Parolin said in the message sent to Archbishop Ravel.
The archbishop invited all religious communities to join a December 13 prayer service at the cathedral of Strasbourg.
Though there was no link between this attack and the ongoing ‘yellow vests’ crisis that’s been going on for many weeks in France, it added to an already tense situation.
On December 11, the permanent council of the French bishops’ conference called on parishes throughout the country to become places of dialogue.
Everyone feels “the end of the crisis will be difficult”, the bishops said, adding that the protests were about “our collective ability to hope and build the future”.
French cities have been hit by weeks of violent demonstrations, known as the ‘yellow vest’ protests after the high-visibility vests worn as a symbol of French citizens’ demands. The protests began in mid-November.
