PARIS (OSV News) -- Ten years after the killing of Father Jacques Hamel shocked France and the world, the Catholic Church in France is preparing to honor his memory with prayer and remembrance.
The 86-year-old French priest was attacked July 26, 2016, while celebrating Mass in Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray, in Normandy. After slitting Father Hamel's throat, the attackers, Adel Kermiche and Abdel-Malik Petitjean, also seriously injured one of the worshippers they took hostage. They were shot dead by police as they tried to leave the church.
On July 26, Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline, archbishop of Marseille and president of the French bishops' conference, will celebrate a televised Mass in the church where the elderly priest was murdered, alongside Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, who knew Father Hamel personally.
The priest's 86-year-old sister, Roseline Hamel, will attend the religious and civil commemorative ceremonies on July 25 and 26 at the site of his death.
Before Mass, there will be a silent march to the church from the rectory.
Ten years ago, Hamel was spending her vacation with her children at this rectory when her brother left that morning to celebrate the daily Mass and never returned. She will walk that short distance to the church again with her children and grandchildren, surrounded by the crowd.
"Being surrounded like this on this anniversary is a great comfort to me," she told OSV News. "It gives me great strength."
Overwhelmed with grief since that tragedy, Hamel has never ceased, despite her suffering, to bear witness to her brother's kindness and to her own desire to forgive. She took steps to meet Nassera Kermiche, the mother of one of the attackers. She even formed a deep friendship with her, and in 2025 the two women published together a book from both perspectives, titled "Sisters in Sorrow."
"For many, such a friendship was incomprehensible and even met with rejection," Hamel said. "But what led me to seek out Nassera was my desire to meet someone with whom I could share my suffering, which seemed insurmountable to me. I thought of the murderer's mother, and I put myself in her shoes. I could imagine that she was suffering even more than I was. No doubt she could understand my pain."
In 2017, Hamel went to Kermiche's home. "I wanted to suggest that we cope with our pain together," she said.
"When she opened the door for me for the first time, her words were, 'I beg your forgiveness, I'm sorry.' She felt -- and still feels -- so guilty, despite everything she had done to prevent her son from falling under the influence of terrorists. She had even asked the police for help and requested that her son be imprisoned. She wanted to prevent him from being recruited via social media by the jihadists he wanted to join in Syria. Unfortunately, prison gave him the opportunity to meet radical Islamists. That only made matters worse," Hamel recounted.
As they spent time together, the two women learned to confide in one another. Hamel went to pay her respects at the grave of Kermiche's son, Adel.
"I wanted to convey a message of forgiveness from my brother," she said. "After that, little by little, year after year, we tried together to forge a path of resilience and to begin to heal the still-fragile wound left by that tragic day."
For Hamel, this friendship has been "a sign of hope and a true source of comfort."
"For years, I spoke out on my own to bear witness to my brother," she explained. "There was no way Nassera would step out of the shadows. She was apprehensive about the reactions around her and even feared for her life, given how vitriolic and threatening some of the messages on social media were toward her."
"But after eight years, we decided we had to explain what we were going through," Hamel said.
"We decided that people needed to understand the context and the reasons behind our friendship. And Nassera had to take part in the book promotion events," Hamel said.
Since then, Hamel and Kermiche's joint appearances have increased.
"Our book has opened up many opportunities for encounters, in places where this tragedy might otherwise have created barriers. In particular, we visit high schools whenever we are asked to do so, to warn young people. We tell them that these networks are dangerous for them, given that they are at a vulnerable age."
"These young people are searching for an identity, and their parents may struggle to provide answers," Hamel said. "Yet it is to them that young people need to turn. That is what we tell them in schools. We advise them to get closer to their parents, to talk to them, to ask them for advice."
Today, Hamel appears serene. "This book was like a breath of fresh air for us," she said. "We have received many encouraging messages that have helped us a great deal."
She also said that she still receives many messages regarding her brother. "The miracle today is seeing the impact he has had over the past 10 years, even though he was a very simple and humble man," she said. "He never wanted to be in the spotlight. Only his priesthood was meant to shine. That was enough for him."
In late August, Hamel will travel to Rome for the release of her book in Italian. There, she will meet Pope Leo XIV, and she hopes to speak with him about her brother's cause for beatification.
In 2019, the archbishop of Rouen delivered the diocesan dossier of the beatification cause to Rome.
"Since then, we have not heard anything," Hamel lamented. "I will try to emphasize the fact that many people, in all corners of the globe, are eagerly awaiting my brother's beatification. When I went to the Holy Land, a few years ago, people told me, 'Beatified or not, to us, he is a saint!'"
