Title:

Write a 1,000 word article on the Monks of Tibhirine. Please follow the recommended format of STM in writing this essay.

Course: Lecturer: Student: Programme: Word Count:

Critical Reading and Writing (TR101) Dr. Joseph Deva Komar Kelvin Engkujoh Anak Justin Jawa MDiv 2010 947 words

Date of Submission: 14th May 2010

The Monks of Tibhirine: Mistaken Martyrs The tragedy of the martyrdom of the seven Trappist monks in Tibhirine transcends even the wildest imagination of great Hollywood directors; they were martyred for all the wrong reasons, slain pawns in a deadly orchestrated cheese game played between the Algerian military and Algerian Islamic militant groups, with the involvement of the French military. The fate of the Trappist monks was sealed even before they were kidnapped that fateful early morning of the 27th March 1996. The Procurator General of the Cistercian Order in Rome during that time, Father Armand Veilleux wrote an analyst of the martyrdom of the monks alleging that the Algerian military planned to remove the monks from Tibhirine because they were thorns in their flesh.1 The reason being that for the few years before the events, the Algerian military wanted all non-Algerian elements to leave conflict zones such as the Atlas region of Algeria wherein lies Tibhirine. The monks adamantly remained there because of their zeal to serve the community of Tibhirine who were mainly Muslims. This engagement of the Muslims even included the brothers of the mountain, members of Islamic militant groups such as the Algerian Armed Islamic Group (Groupe Islamique Arm or GIA). This caused uneasiness in the Algerian military leadership who necessitated that the monks had to be removed, by hook or by crook. Veilleux alleges that the Algerian military re-employed a tactic which worked successfully for them three years before; staged kidnapping and successful rescue operation. The monks would have been safely rescued a few days after a ransom demand has been made by the kidnappers. What the Algerian military did not count on was that the individuals they relied on to execute the plan were either under-powered or powerless, exposing it to unforeseen elements. The whole plan collapsed onto itself, leaving the Algerian military to request assistance from the French through an emissary of the GIA. Another plan was hatched but it also was botched and this time resulted in the martyrdom of the monks. The French and Algerian military jointly covered up the failed plan and it all ended with the burial of the remains of the monks in the cemetery of their monastery in Tibhirine.
Armand Veilleux, The Death of the Monks of Tibhirine: Facts, Questions, and Hypotheses, available from http://users.skynet.be/bs775533/Armand/wri/hypothesis.htm linked from th http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Atlas; Internet; accessed 10 April 2010.
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The fact that the official story has been sniffed at and scrutinised as early as 1998 by the church and subsequently by the French press lends credence on Veilleuxs allegations. In 2009, retired French general Franois Buchwalter testified to an investigating judge that he was informed by an Algerian friend that the monks were actually killed during a botched rescue attempt by Algerian military using helicopters.2 Buchwalter alleges that the bodies of the monks were found, their heads severed and their bodies buried to conceal the truth of their death. The French and Algerian military and intelligence bodies reluctance to discuss further the details of the martyrdom fuels speculation after speculation concerning what really happened. Buchwalters revelation together with testimonies of a former leader of the GIA and an officer of one of Algerias intelligence became the backbone to the ongoing investigation by the French independent judiciary into the case. Against all this bleak and tragic historical study of the martyrdom of the monks of Tibhirine, another more positive and beautiful story is revealed, one which has captured the romanticists. The leader of monastery, the Trappist superior of that time, Dom Christian-Marie de Charg was a man who was deeply in love with Islam and Muslims. This deep affection and affinity was the main reason for the Trappists to remain in Tibhirine, for they would not be moved on account of the terrorists and their threat. John W. Kiser wrote that de Charg together with the other monks were determined to continue their engagement of their Muslim friends in Tibhirine even if it meant they could be killed.3 In lieu of the threats to their lives, de Charg prepared a testament that would be opened and published upon his demise by his younger brother in France. This testament testified to the degree of de Chargs and his six brothers who were martyred, even in the worst circumstance. They would not have chosen to perish the way they did but the fact that they lived their lives for others is testament enough to how love permeates even violence and corruption. Kiser emphasised that the religious life was not one of seeking worldly favour but one of total dependence on God for all things in all aspect of life. In the monks, the world finds how much value they put on human relationship and how far they would go to
Lara Marlowe, Sarkozy to release details about beheaded monks in Algeria, in The Irish Times Online; available from http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0708/1224250235664.html; th Internet; accessed 11 May 2010. 3 Michael Downey, Book Review: The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria, Horizons 30, no 2 (Fall 2003): 341-343, 324.
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maintain that relationship. The monks were greatly adored by the community around them, for their fortitude in their service of fellow mankind without thought for differences. Even the men who threatened them with death received their undivided care and love evident in their healing of wounded militants and the use of their telephone. The monks were oblivious to their own needs and cared more for the needs of the Muslims, even in matters of spirituality; the monks infused Islamic spiritual practices into their daily spiritual activities. Their engagement of the Muslims goes beyond the normal practice and virtually breaks the religious barrier that exists. What a lesson to learn from especially for todays world of xenophobia and religio-phobia. For all these, the monks deserve to be called martyrs as they have loved without prejudice all Gods children and that they died still loving them. They lived a loving life and died in Gods loving care. The circumstances of their death matter but their lives should be valued more, highlighting what todays postmodern world desperately needs; selfless martyrs.

Bibliography Downey, Michael. Book Review: The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love, and Terror in Algeria. Horizons 30, no. 2 (Fall 2003): 341-343. Faith Perfected: Recent martyrdoms sadden us but cannot make us despair. Christianity Today 51, no. 7 (July 2007): 21. Marlowe, Lara. Sarkozy to release details about beheaded monks in Algeria. In The Irish Times Online. Available from http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/world/2009/0708/1224250235664.html. Internet. Accessed 11 May 2010. Mitchell, Margaret M. Christian Martyrdom and The Dialect of the Holy Scriptures: The Literal, The Allegorical, The Martyrological. Biblical Interpretation 17, no. 1-2 (2009): 177-206. Veilleux, Armand. The Death of the Monks of Tibhirine: Facts, Questions, and Hypotheses. Available from http://users.skynet.be/bs775533/Armand/wri/hypothesis.htm linked from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martyrs_of_Atlas. Internet. Accessed 10 April 2010.