On the night of 26–27 March 1996, seven monks of the Trappist order from the Our Lady of the Atlas Abbey of Tibhirine near

Médéa Médéa () is the capital city of Médéa Province, Algeria. It is located roughly 68 km south of Algiers. The present-day city is situated on the site of an ancient Roman military post and has a history dating back to the 10th century. The ...

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

, were kidnapped during the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a 1992 Algerian coup d'état, coup negating an Islami ...

. They were held for two months, and found dead in late May 1996. The circumstances of their kidnapping and death remain controversial; the

Armed Islamic Group The Armed Islamic Group (GIA, from ; ) was one of the two main Islamist insurgent groups that fought the Algerian government and army in the Algerian Civil War. It was created from smaller armed groups following the 1992 military coup and ar ...

(''Groupe Islamique Armé'', GIA) claimed responsibility for both, but in 2009, retired General François Buchwalter reported that the monks were killed by the Algerian army.

Circumstances

At approximately 1:15 a.m. on 27 March 1996, about twenty armed members of the

(GIA) arrived at the

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

of Tibhirine and kidnapped seven monks. Two others, Father Jean-Pierre and Father Amédée, were in separate rooms and escaped the kidnappers' notice. After the kidnappers left, the remaining monks attempted to contact the police, but found that the telephone lines had been cut. As there was a curfew in force, they had to wait until morning to drive to the police station in

. On 18 April, the GIA's communiqué no. 43 announced that they would release the monks in exchange for

Abdelhak Layada Abdelhak Layada (; born 1959), also known as Abu Adlane, is one of the founders of Algeria's militant Islamist group Armed Islamic Group (GIA) during the Algerian Civil War. He led the group after the death of Mohamed Allel ("Moh Leveilly"). He ...

, a former GIA leader who had been arrested three years earlier. On 30 April, a tape with the voices of the kidnapped monks, recorded on 20 April, was delivered to the French Embassy in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

. On 23 May, the GIA's communiqué no. 44 reported that they had executed the monks on 21 May. The Algerian government announced that their heads had been discovered on May 31; the whereabouts of their bodies is unknown. The funeral

Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

for the monks was celebrated in the Catholic Cathedral of

Notre-Dame d'Afrique Basilique Notre Dame d'Afrique ( English: “Basilica of Our Lady of Africa”) is a Catholic basilica in Algiers, Algeria. It is the origin of the modern Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Africa. Pope Pius IX granted two Pontifical decrees towa ...

(Our Lady of Africa) in

on Sunday, 2 June 1996. Their remains were buried in the cemetery of the monastery at Tibhirine two days later. The surviving two monks of Tibhirine left Algeria and travelled to a Trappist community near Fez in

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

that would become the Priory of Our Lady of Atlas (today in Midelt).

The monks

All of the murdered monks were French. They were: Dom Christian de Chergé, Brother Luc (born Paul Dochier), Father Christophe (Lebreton), Brother Michel (Fleury), Father Bruno (born Christian Lemarchand), Father Célestin (Ringeard), and Brother Paul (Favre-Miville).

Accusations against Algerian army

In 2008, ''

La Stampa (English: "The Press") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Turin with an average circulation of 87,143 copies in May 2023. Distributed in Italy and other European nations, it is one of the oldest newspapers in Italy. Until the late 1970 ...

'' reported that an anonymous high-ranking Western government official, based in Algeria at the time of the murders, had told them that the kidnapping was orchestrated by a DRS-infiltrated GIA group, but that the monks had been killed accidentally by an Algerian military helicopter which attacked the camp where they were being held captive. In July 2009, the retired French general François Buchwalter, who was military attaché in Algeria at the time, testified to a judge that the monks had been accidentally killed by an Algerian government helicopter during an attack on a guerrilla position, then beheaded after their death to make it appear as though the GIA had killed them. The day after Buchwalter's statement, former GIA leader Abdelhak Layada — who was in prison when the monks were killed — responded by reiterating the claim that the GIA had beheaded the monks after a breakdown of negotiations with the French secret service.

Martyrs of Algeria

The seven monks of the Our Lady of the Atlas, who were kidnapped and later beheaded, were beatified with twelve other martyrs of Algeria on December 8, 2018. The celebration occurred in Oran, Algeria.

References

External links

"Atlas Martyrs"
Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance.
"Biographies of the seven monks (French and Spanish)"