Blessed Christian de Chergé and the Martyrs of Algeria

Life story

The Algerian civil war broke out in the early 1990s and many foreigners, including Catholic religious, were killed. Nineteen people, belonging to several different institutes, were beatified on 8 December 2018 in Oran.

In chronological order: on 8 May 1994 Brother Henri Vergès and Sister Paul-Hélène Saint-Raymond were killed in Algiers; on 23 October 1994 two Spanish sisters, María Caridad Álvarez Martín and Esther Paniagua Alonso, were killed in Bab-el-Oued; on 27 December 1994 four White Fathers, Alain Dieulangard, Charles Decker, Jean Chevillard and Christian Chessel, were killed in Tizi-Ouzou; in 1995 Sisters Bibiane Leclercq, Angèle-Marie Littlejohn and Odette Prévost were also killed in Algiers.

The best known are the seven Trappist monks of Our Lady of the Atlas monastery near Médéa, whose prior was Fr Christian de Chergé, kidnapped on the night of 26–27 March 1996. The GIA announced they were executed on 21 May; their heads were found at the end of May. The circumstances of their deaths remain disputed. Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran was killed by a bomb on 1 August 1996. The group's shared memorial is 8 May.

Works and witness

• Nineteen people killed in Algeria in the civil war, 1994–1996
• Include a bishop, priests, brothers and sisters
• Seven Trappist monks of Tibhirine kidnapped on 26–27 March 1996
• Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran killed on 1 August 1996
• Beatified on 8 December 2018 in Oran

Saints from the same country

Saint Augustine of Hippo, Saint Monica, Saint Alypius of Thagaste, Saint Optatus of Milevis

References

• Pope Francis, decree on the martyrdom of Pierre Claverie and 18 companions, 2018 (Vatican)
• Martyrologium Romanum
• Christian de Chergé, Testament spirituel (1994)

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.