The 86-year-old clergyman was a source of strength for generations of local Catholics.
From religious leaders to common parishioners, there was a singular refrain regarding the priest slain in his own church Tuesday by terrorists: Jacques Hamel was simply a good man.
As a long-time priest in a working-class town of nearly 30,000, the 86-year-old clergyman was a source of comfort and strength for generations of local Catholics.
The faithful were still in shock today, a day after two attackers stormed the church in the northern town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during morning mass and cut Hamel's throat at the altar.
"He baptised my children and performed the wedding for one of my sons in September in 2010," said Catherine, a local who did not give her full name.
"All this doesn't feel real and then all of a sudden it happens in your neighbourhood. This is a peaceful place," she added, with tears in her eyes.
People were lining up to leave messages of condolence and lay flowers at the town hall, which has become a memorial site because the church remains cordoned off by police.
Though the diminutive Hamel was well past retirement age, he was ever-busy and served as an auxiliary priest to help keep up with the town's baptisms, first communions, weddings and funerals.
His help was more than welcomed by the parish's Congolese priest, Auguste Moanda Phuati, in a region where members of the clergy are in short supply.
"He was a man passionate about what he did," said the diocese vicar general Philippe Maheut. "He surprised us all with his energy."
'More Human, More Brotherly'
Reminders of the priest's life are everywhere in town. The rectory where he lived, just near the town hall, and its meeting room equipped with an ageing TV, were familiar to many of his flock.
"That's where I did my catechism, and then the preparations for my wedding," said Arnaud Paris, 44, a life-long local resident. "Then he took care of the religious education of my two daughters until their first communion three years ago."
"He was very nice, but he could be strict," added Paris. "Things had to be done his way."
Beyond his role as teacher, leader of prayer and administrator of rites, Hamel was also a confidant to parishioners struggling with life's ups and downs.
"I went to see him often. He helped me during my chemotherapy and after my husband's departure," said another local, Martine.
Hamel was not blind to the troubled times facing France, following the string of major terror attacks in the past 18 months. He issued a plea for peace to the parish last month.
"Could we, in these moments hear God's invitation to take care of this world in which we live and make it warmer, more human and more brotherly," he wrote.
Mohammed Karabila, who heads the mosque in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, felt a connection with Hamel seeing in him a friend who "gave his life to others".
The imam said he and the priest had talked several times at public events and noted they were working on an inter-faith panel discussing how different communities could work to get along.
Alexandre Joly, a priest from the neighbouring town of Grand Quevilly, said simply: "He was a good man."
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