Paris archbishop recalls jihadist massacre 10 years ago, offers hope

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 14, 2025 / 11:34 am (CNA).

Ten years ago on Nov. 13, armed jihadists stormed the Bataclan concert hall in Paris and elsewhere in the city, murdering over a hundred innocent people.

Suicide bombers also attacked people near France’s national stadium while other jihadists opened fire on restaurants and cafe terraces packed with people, leaving 130 dead and nearly 400 wounded.

On the 10th anniversary of the attack, the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, recalled the shock people experienced on Nov. 13, 2015, “in the face of the most gratuitous, the most blind violence,” and especially “in the face of the intensity of the evil.”

The French prelate delivered a message filled with hope to the Parisians who witnessed that “long night of anguish.”

“Our faith also leads us not to forget how, in the midst of this darkness, brightly shone that night, glimmers of brotherhood, love, mutual aid, and hope,” he said.

Faced with the abyss into which violence “had resolved to plunge us,” Ulrich continued, “these simple and courageous gestures, gestures of compassion and kindness, were the most solid of bulwarks.”

“We Christians believe that God was truly present that night: in the promptness of the medical personnel, in the selflessness of the police, in the spontaneous outpouring of humanity from so many Parisians,” he affirmed.

The archbishop expressed his closeness and tireless prayers for those who died and their loved ones, as well as for those who survived and are still “wounded, scarred, and bruised” to the point that life itself has become “a very heavy burden to bear.”

Many survivors witnessed harrowing scenes whose consequences they still bear. Two of them took their own lives shortly after the attacks.

Ulrich said in his message that the bells of all the churches in Paris would ring that evening “to invite us to unite, all together, in this same prayer” for the city and for the country.

He invited the faithful to participate in Masses and vigils for those affected and encouraged citizens to light a candle and place it in their windows.

“Having died and risen again, Christ walks through the night for us, walks through the night with us. May he grant us to be ever more faithful witnesses of his hope, his love, and his peace to those who suffer around us, brothers and sisters on the journey,” the archbishop concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/267821/paris-archbishop-recalls-jihadist-massacre-10-years-ago-offers-hope