Quebec priest reflects on attack at Saint Joseph's Oratory 5 years later

It's been five years since Father Claude Grou was violently attacked while leading a Friday morning mass at Montreal's Saint Joseph's Oratory.

"I don't think about it each year," he tells Noovo Info as he prepares for this year's Easter celebrations.

The date was March 22, 2019, when Grou, then 77 years old, was stabbed in the upper body by a 26-year-old man who rushed the lectern.

The fierce attack was captured on camera during a live stream, showing parishioners and security guards quickly wrestling the man to the ground.

Following court proceedings, a psychiatrist concluded that the man had a mental disorder, and he was found not criminally responsible for the act.

One week after the incident, Grou was back at the pulpit, showing compassion for his attacker, saying that the man needed help and that he would pray for him.

Thinking back on that day, Grou recalls his adrenaline taking over during the attack.

"When I managed to get back up, I stayed there and was asking myself, 'when can I restart my sermon?'" he said.

Now 82 years old, Grou says he is grateful for his health.

"What happened to me was a message; I didn't die because there is still something I have to do with my life," he said. "My life is still important, for one reason or another."

This Easter marks a hundreds-year old tradition since the first mass was given in what was then known as New France.