The Normandy church where Islamic extremists cut a priest's throat and used nuns as human shields reopened on Sunday for the first time since the attack, with a special cleansing ritual and call for tolerance across religions.
The Archbishop of Rouen led a procession through the nearby town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray to the Catholic church where two 19-year-old radicals killed 85-year-old priest Fr Jacques Hamel on July 26 as he celebrated Mass on a quiet summer weekday.
ISIS group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which two nuns and an elderly couple were held hostage before the assailants slashed the priest's throat and seriously wounded the other man. Another nun slipped away and raised the alarm, and police fatally shot both attackers as they left the church.
