The BBC website has an interview with one of the Daughters of Charity who was a witness to the slaying of a priest.

The men arrived during morning mass in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, a working-class town near Rouen, northwest of Paris, where the 85-year-old parish priest, Father Jacques Hamel, was leading prayers.

Sister remembers thinking “Well that is it. It’s over!” The sisters were obviously shaken and the Daughters of Charity ask prayers for healing.

In June he had written to his parishioners

“At these times we should dig deep inside ourselves to hear God’s invitation to take care of this world, to make it, where we live in it, a warmer, more human, more fraternal world.”

An associate priest is quoted as remembering the 86 year old saying ‘Have you ever seen a retired pastor? I will work until my last breath.'”

Others said of him

“He was very popular, a good man, simple and without extravagance. We benefited greatly from his experience and wisdom at the parish of Saint-Etienne. He served people for most of his life,”

His parishioners praise him as a model of dedication in this Wall Street journal article.

French leaders and representatives of all faiths pray at the Cathedral of Notre Dame.