Pope Francis insists church doors must be opened despite security fears

Pope Francis has insisted church doors must remain open despite security fears and warnings after ISIS jihadis executed a priest in France.

Islamists Abdel Malik, along with Adel Kermiche cut the throat of Father Jacques Hamel at a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Normandy, on Tuesday.

The pair forced a man in the congregation to video the brutal killing of the 85-year-old on a phone before he was knifed in the neck, arms and back next to the altar.

The execution sparked authorities, including the British Home Office, to urge religious leaders to tighten up security, but the Pope appeared to reject the warnings.

Francis issued the message of defiance as he celebrated a mass in a shrine in Poland dedicated to the late Polish pope, St John Paul II. During mass in Krakow, the Pope said that Jesus wanted his church 'to be a church on the move, a church that goes out into the world.

'This call is also addressed to us. How can we fail to hear its echo in the great appeal of Saint John Paul II: "Open the doors"?'

Francis also paid tribute to Poland's late pontiff John Paul II as he continued his tour of the country in Krakow for World Youth Day.