Scottish Catholic Observer

THE MURDER of Fr Jacques Hamel by Islamic terrorists is a new and shocking low in a summer of bloodshed and despair. In the past fortnight alone we have seen horrors in Nice, Ansbach, Wuerzburg, Reutlingen. Now we add Rouen to that list. A list barely a fortnight old, yet heavy with tragedy. Each name on it now carrying an echo of despair, of families ripped apart, of murderous rage.

For Scottish Catholics the latest attack on the Normandy Church is almost beyond understanding. An 84-year-old priest, his throat slit as he said Mass. How can anyone hate so much?

For Catholics and other Christians in the Middle East, that question is all too familiar. In Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere violence and hatred has become a constant drumbeat in their lives. Faced with such evil, with the endless murderous dedication of ISIS, hope can seem a distant pitiful thing.

Yet Christians in the Middle East endure – fearful and persecuted, but they endure. Their priests and people are taken from them, martyr after martyr, but they endure even as most of those in Britain and beyond ignore their plight.

Now France has lost a martyr, a man of peace, who gave his life to God. Long after the hatred that inspired it has evaporated in odiousness, that martyrdom will endure.

But as we grope for a response, the immediate reaction of Fr Hamel’s archbishop, Archbishop Dominique Lebrun, still resonates.

“The Catholic Church cannot take weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men.”

We cannot. Even when faced with such evil, the principles of our Faith demand we meet hatred with Love. It is not hopeless.

Archbishop Lebrun, after hearing of the attack returned to France from Krakow, where he had planned to attend World Youth Day.

“I leave here hundreds of young people who are the future of humanity, the true ones,” he said. “I ask them not to give in to the violence and become apostles of the civilization of love.”

There are hundreds of thousands of young Catholics from all over the world in Krakow now. Hundreds are Scottish. They traveled to Poland in a season of bloodshed. They gathered in joyful multitudes despite the lurking threat.

We can see, as never before, how much joy there is among these pilgrims. Their pictures flock via Facebook on to our phones. In their Faith, in their togetherness, they are not afraid. And they are agents of Joy on this earth.

This has been a dark summer. It may grow darker still. The Church remains a beacon, of faith, joy and love.