20th anniversary of slaying of Trappist monks in Algeria

March 29, 2016

On the night of March 26-27, 1996, seven Trappist monks were abducted from the Priory of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria by members of the insurgent Armed Islamic Group of Algeria.

Two months later, the monks’ heads were discovered.

The seven monks were among 19 clergy and religious slain in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, including Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran.The postulator of their joint cause of beatification, Father Thomas Georgeon, told La Croix that 7,000 pages of documentation will be submitted to Rome in the coming weeks.

Father Georgeon acknowledged that because of the “very difficult diplomatic and political implications,” the Vatican might not consider it “opportune” at the present time to declare the 19 to be martyrs.

 

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Further information:

• À Tibhirine, la mémoire de sept vies données (La Croix)
• Vers une béatification des martyrs d’Algérie (La Croix)
• France Mourns Murdered Monks (CWN, 5/27/96)