Hundreds of mourners gathered at Rouen cathedral in western France for the funeral Mass of a priest who was killed by two Islamic extremists last week in the nearby town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray.

Father Jacques Hamel, 85, was killed when his throat was slit as he celebrated morning Mass. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Mass was celebrated by Rouen's archbishop, Dominique Lebrun, in the presence of interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve.

The ceremony was organised under tight security, and burial was held privately.

On Sunday, dozens of Muslims in France and Italy attended Catholic Masses as a gesture of interfaith solidarity following the attack on the priest.

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