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Doctors at the city hospital are fighting to keep alive 52-year-old priest Nikolaos Kakavelakis, who was shot twice by an unknown perpetrator inside an Orthodox church in Lyon. Police in riot gear stormed a demonstration on Saturday, taking hundreds of protesters away by truck. However, late at night it emerged that the authorities arrested a suspect.
According to Le Figaro, citing sources familiar with the investigation, the authorities are investigating the possibility that it was not a terrorist attack since the priest had been attacked in the past by a citizen. Some information says that the author of that attack was a Greek who faced psychological problems.
It was four in the afternoon and Father Nikolas Kakavelakis was preparing to close the church located in the seventh municipal district of the city. Outside the church, someone approached him, took out a shotgun that had cut the barrel, and shot the priest twice, who fell into the street covered in blood. Shrapnel found Father Nikolaos in the abdomen and chest. Rescue teams arrived a few minutes later and tried to stop the bleeding and keep him alive so they could rushed him to hospital. Other believers were not present in the temple because there was no service.
The police officers who arrived at the scene of the attack, blocked the area and taking testimony from those who were near the time of the murderous attack, tried to paint the picture of their identity. The assassination attempt shocked France, as it occurred just days after the horrific terrorist attack on a church in Nice. However, according to the mayor of Lyon, Gregory Duchess, the motive of the perpetrator remains unclear and he wonders why a Greek Christian Orthodox priest should be the target.
In Paris, Interior Minister Gerard Darmanen convened a crisis management committee at the ministry. Prime Minister Jean-Castex, who traveled today to Rouen and Saint-Etienne-di-Rouvere in northwestern France, where a Catholic priest, Father Amel, was massacred in 2016 by two jihadists, highlighted the government’s “absolute determination to allow each and everyone individually to practice their religion I believe that with total security and total freedom. “Our will is strong: our determination will remain intact, it is the honor of France, it is the honor of the Republic,” he said.
🔴🇫🇷#Alert #Lyon – A few minutes ago, an Orthodox priest was shot closing the doors of his church.
🙏Your vital prognosis is compromised.
Your attacker is on the run. pic.twitter.com/yblRtid1PM– SOS Chrétiens d’Orient (@SOSCdOrient) October 31, 2020
As it became known, the priest is originally from Chania and is the father of two children. He lives in Lyon and is the president of the Greek Orthodox community. According to the information, Nikolas Kakavelakis is a theologian, historian and at the same time he taught courses in Byzantine History at the city’s University. He lived for years in the French city, with his family.
The small church that was attacked is located in the center of Lyon, in a neighborhood with houses, and with few passers-by on the streets as this is the first weekend of quarantine.
The mayor of #Lyon @Gregorydoucet just arrived at the site. A manhunt still ongoing to find the perpetrator. @lyonmag pic.twitter.com/1Ny8lRbW1m
– Julien Damboise (@JDANDOU) October 31, 2020
It has not yet been clarified if it is a terrorist attack with religious characteristics, although the attacks of the previous days in France show that it is happening. The attacker struck shortly after noon in front of a church in Notre Dame, Nice, where three people were killed by gunmen. 
🔴 #Lyon : a man shot and wounded on rue St-Lazare in the 7th arrondissement, under still unclear circumstances. The shooter is said to be on the run. The sector currently closed for #police @lyonmag pic.twitter.com/8RUoFFXDNi
– Julien Damboise (@JDANDOU) October 31, 2020
Reports indicated that the Greek Orthodox community had never received threats. Following the attack in Nice, President Macron announced an increase from 3,000 to 7,000 soldiers to participate in Operation Sentinelle to protect places of worship and schools.
This force is joined by almost 7,000 members of the forces of the order, half of whom are reserve gendarmes, who from Monday will be at the disposal of the prefects to guarantee security.
The mayor of #Lyon @Gregorydoucet just arrived at the site. A manhunt still ongoing to find the perpetrator. @lyonmag pic.twitter.com/1Ny8lRbW1m
– Julien Damboise (@JDANDOU) October 31, 2020
As learned by the French Ministry of the Interior, a large Police operation is underway to locate the perpetrator. Residents have been advised to stay home as the perpetrator has not been arrested.
Jerome’s conviction
“This horror transcends human reason. A religion to arm the hands blinded by the hatred of the terrorists. And extremely intolerant and fanatical people, fundamentalists of violence and death, to use a religion as a sphere that points to the heart of freedom, and in particular the religious freedom of others, as a weapon to eliminate all points of view opposites and all people in the civilized world. it has the inalienable right to express it, like a knife that slaughters human rights.
This statement was made to APE-MPE by the Archbishop of Athens and all of Greece, Ieronymos, who is expected to contact the Metropolitan of France, Emmanuel, within the day to express his sorrow over the attempted murder of an Orthodox priest of Greek nationality. the church where he served, in the city of Lyon in southeastern France.
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