PARIS (AP) – In a gesture of solidarity following the gruesome killing of a French priest, Muslims have attended Catholic Mass in churches and cathedrals across the country and beyond.
Television footage showed dozens of Muslims gathering at France’s towering Gothic cathedral in Rouen, only a few miles from the village church where the 85-year-old priest was killed by two teenage attackers on Tuesday.
Other interfaith gatherings took place elsewhere in France on Sunday. Dalil Boubakeur, the rector of the Mosque of Paris, was among those who attended a Mass at Paris’ iconic Notre Dame cathedral.
In Italy, the secretary general of the country’s Islamic Confederation, Abdullah Cozzolino, spoke from the altar in the Treasure of St. Gennaro chapel next to Naples’ Duomo cathedral. He talked of the need for “more affirmation of shared values.”
