Ten Years After the Murder of Jacques Hamel: Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray Remembers and Seeks Unity

Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray – 24 July 2026: In front of the small Saint-Etienne church, near Rouen, a town is preparing for a difficult anniversary. On Sunday, 26 July 2026, the murder of Catholic priest Jacques Hamel will mark its tenth anniversary. The 85-year-old was the victim of a terrorist attack during Mass on 26 July 2016. The crime shocked all of France far beyond Normandy.

This weekend, the town and diocese do not want merely to look back. Commemorative events have been announced for Saturday, 25 July, and Sunday, 26 July. They are intended to bring together residents, representatives of state institutions and members of different religious communities. The municipality explicitly speaks of peace and fraternity – words that do not sound abstract in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, but stem from the experience of a place whose name has been associated with a terrorist attack since 2016.

On Sunday, a plaque is to be unveiled at the entrance to the church: the forecourt in front of the place of worship will henceforth bear the name Parvis Jacques-Hamel. An official ceremony is planned afterwards. According to the town, those expected include Mayor Joachim Moyse, Hamel’s sister Roseline Hamel, and church dignitaries. The programme may still change; what matters is the deliberately public nature of the commemoration.

Jacques Hamel was an assistant priest in the local parish. According to the French Interior Ministry, he was killed on the morning of 26 July 2016 in Saint-Etienne church by Adel Kermiche and Abdel Malik Petitjean. The two attackers were shot dead by police after the crime. A parishioner was seriously injured in the attack. The terrorist organisation Islamic State claimed responsibility for the act at the time.

Ten years later, the town is trying neither to suppress what happened nor to reduce itself to the crime. Throughout July, it has prepared a remembrance initiative in public spaces. It has also published extensive documentation featuring the voices of people who experienced the day of the attack and its aftermath. This gives remembrance a tangible place – not only in the church, but also in the municipality’s streets and squares.

The planned days therefore stand for mourning and vigilance, but also for the effort not to surrender coexistence to violence. For many residents, Jacques Hamel remains more than the victim of an attack: he remains the pastor from their neighbourhood. The fact that the town is now making his name visible at the church entrance is a quiet gesture. It recalls a crime – and the commitment to remain humanly united in its aftermath.