A nun who escaped after being held hostage in the attack on the church Saint-Étienne-du-Rouvray church near Rouen where Fr Jacques Hamel was killed has been applauded at a memorial for the dead priest.

Sister Danielle received hugs and applause from several thousand mourners at the emotional ceremony at the Gagarine park in Saint Etienne yesterday.

In an earlier interview, the nun described how Adel Kermiche, 19, and his accomplice Abdel Malik P burst into the church in northern France shortly after morning mass on July 26, and took the priest, two nuns and two fellow worshippers hostage.

"It was fear, especially when they entered," she said in an interview with the BBC.

"When I saw them I said to myself, 'well, that's it. It's over'. They were so motivated. They told me 'you Christians, you kill us'."

Sister Danielle explained how the priest had just celebrated Mass when the attackers "took his place and started preaching in Arabic".

She told how the pair "forced him to kneel and told him not to move". The attackers then brutally murdered Hamel, cutting his throat.

The nun managed to escape and alert the police to what was going on in the church.

"Jacques loved all people regardless of religion. That is all I can say. A faithful priest, a priest who loved everybody, who loved much," she said.

On Wednesday, French President Francois Hollande was among those who attended an earlier memorial Mass for Hamel at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

After the attack, local witnesses described Hamel as a humble man who shunned attention and was deeply valued by the community.

A woman who works at a local beauty parlour, Eulalie Garcia, said:

"My family has lived here for 35 years and we have always known him. He was someone who was treasured by the community. He was very discreet and didn't like to draw attention to himself."

Father John Hogan, OCDS, a Secular Discalced Carmelite priest, said that Hamel was "a good priest...discreet. He was quiet, didn't like attention...He assumed his duties to the end. He was well-liked. It seems he was a simple, faithful priest, quietly serving God and his people."