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Pope has private meeting with French president


President Francois Hollande

President Francois Hollande

Pope Francis had a private meeting with President Francois Hollande on Wednesday. Their meeting at the Vatican came three weeks after the brutal murder of the elderly French priest, Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed by two young French terrorists claiming allegiance to the so-called Islamic State group whilst he was celebrating Mass in his church near the city of Rouen.

Following the murder of Fr Hamel, President Hollande telephoned Pope Francis to express his closeness and told him that "when a priest is attacked all of France is wounded." Speaking on his flight to Poland, the Pope thanked the French President "in a special way" for having contacted him like "a brother."

President Hollande was accompanied on his visit to the Vatican by the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve and the French ambassador to the Holy See, Philippe Zeller.

Wednesday's encounter marked the second time that Pope Francis and President Hollande have met in the Vatican. Their first meeting, which was an official one, took place on 24th January 2014.

French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, Archbishop of Lyon, spoke of the significance of Wednesday's private meeting between Pope Francis and President Francois Hollande in the Vatican and about the mood in France now since Fr Hamel's murder.

Cardinal Barbarin said mutual respect between Christians and Muslims must prevail over any desire for revenge. He said he and many other churchmen were touched by the fact that so many Muslims came to Mass in Rouen and other places across France on the Sunday following the murder of Fr. Hamel as a sign of respect. Many, he said, he said, came bearing gifts as well.

Source: Vatican Radio

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