Pope Francis Reacts to Terrorists’ Attack on French Church

Pope Francis has expressed his “pain and horror” at a hostage-taking at a church in France on Tuesday in which a priest was killed.

“The pope… participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said, adding that Francis had been particularly appalled by the “barbaric killing” because it happened in a sacred place.

A priest was killed on Tuesday when two armed assailants seized hostages at a church near the northern French city of Rouen, police said.

Five people were inside the church in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray when it came under attack, interior ministry spokesman Pierre Henry Brandet said.