Dear Editor, As awful the act that claimed the life of the martyr Fr Jacques Hamel in France must be the recognition that Christian persecution has finally been visited (returned) to Europe in the most savage of fashions.
That which our Christian brothers and sisters have endured in Iraq, Syria, and Nigeria among other nations blighted by radical Islamism is now the lot of Christian congregations.
This reality naturally prompts the question of how much more suffering will it take before European leaders finally react effectively to the savagery of those who threaten not just faith, but our values and very way of life on this continent.
How many more will be targeted purely for their faith, and while at prayer, in the insane pursuit of the hellish caliphate promised by Islamic State?
Yours etc.,
Graham Fitzpatrick,
Naas, Co. Kildare.