One year after the terrorist attack that shocked the world, churches in the French city of Nice rang their bells in honour of the three victims.
Newsroom – France – Nice (October 31, 2021, 7:25 AM, Gaudium Press) Exactly one year before, the coastal city of Nice, in southern France, experienced a terrible drama. One year later, the bells of all the churches of Nice rang at 8:45 a.m. (local time) to remember the three victims, whose pictures still hang inside the Cathedral.
On Thursday, October 29, 2020, at about 9 a.m., a terrorist armed with a knife broke into the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and killed three people before being neutralized by police.
The victims were: Nadine Devillers, 60, the sexton Vincent Loquès, 55, father of two daughters, and the Brazilian Simone Barreto Silva, 44.
Simone, even wounded, sought refuge in an establishment next to the church, but she didn’t resist. Her last words were a message to her three children: “Tell my children that I love them”.
Commotion overtakes the country
President Emmanuel Macron and other authorities went to the scene to pay their respects to the families of the victims.
The French bishops also spoke out: “With these terrible acts, the whole country is touched. Terrorism aims to install anguish in the whole of society. It is urgent that this gangrene be stopped, as it is also urgent that we find the indispensable fraternity that will keep us standing in the face of these threats.
That same day, at 3 p.m., the bells of the French cathedrals rang to honour the three victims of the terrorist attack. (FM)
Compiled by Zephania Gangl
