A Greek Orthodox priest was shot and injured on Saturday at a church in the center of the French city of Lyon by an assailant who then fled, a police source and witnesses said.
The priest was fired on twice at around 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) as he was closing the church, and he was being treated on site for life-threatening injuries, the source said.
Witnesses said the church was Greek Orthodox. Police immediately cordoned off the area.
The incident came two days after a man shouting "Allahu Akbar!" (God is Greatest) beheaded a woman and killed two other people in a church in Nice. Two weeks ago a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb was beheaded by an 18-year-old attacker who was apparently incensed by the teacher showing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad during a class.
Government ministers had warned that other Islamist militant attacks could take place. President Emmanuel Macron has deployed thousands of soldiers to protect sites such as places of worship and schools.