Monks of Tibhirine of Algeria

Memories of the Seven Atlas Martyrs come to mind at 21 May each year.
During this month our Chapter community reading, before Compline, has been from the Ten Monastic Journeys in the book, “Touched by God”. The chapter, “The Most Unexpected Places” contributed by Fr. Martin McGee, OSB, monk of Work Abbey, tells us of how the story of the Monks of Tibhirine of Algeria has been a powerful inspiration in his monastic life.

Excerpts from “The Most Unexpected Places”:

. . .Who could ever have imagined that almost a half-century later I would, as a monk and priest of Worth Abbey, look out of an aeroplane window on Thursday, 7 April 2005 and, with growing excitement, see the Algerian coastline for the first time just as a brutal civil war was petering out. On my return to Worth I wrote to Mgr Henri Teissier, Archbishop of Algiers, to thank him for la plus belle semaine de ma vie - the best week of my life. How could that be, you may ask? Was this sentence an example of my Celtic tendency to exaggerate? I am not sure that a clear answer can be given. As a Francophile, the love-hate relationship of the French people with Algeria had drawn me to that country. Above all, however, I had been drawn there by the 19 Christian martyrs who had offered their lives (1994--96) out of love for a Muslim people. In a sense I was on a pilgrimage to discover the source of this love which ultimately flows from Jesus' love for us, a love which impelled him freely to offer his life on our behalf So perhaps here was to be found the deepest motivation for my strange interest and journey, and also my motivation for becoming a monk. . .

A Growing Fascination with Algeria
. . . The missionary instinct has always been part of the English Benedictine Congregation since its re-foundation on the Continent in the seventeenth century. In a rather unexpected way my missionary instinct has found in recent years an outlet through contact with the Algerian Church. The kidnapping of the seven Trappist monks of Tibhirine, a monastery located about 60 miles south of Algiers, in March 1996 by the CIA, an Islamic armed group, made media headlines throughout the world. Strangely enough, I can't recall following the story. In fact the plight of the Christian remnant in Algeria only gradually gripped my imagination, and the person responsible for this was Mgr Henri Teissier, Archbishop of Algiers. On 12 January 1997 The Tablet carried an interview with Mgr Teissier which deeply impressed me. I sensed something of his love for the Algerian people and his conviction that the Gospel was truly Good News, something of ultimate importance. The journalist wrote that he ‘was moved by [his] visit to a priest of such dedication and fortitude'. Algeria at this time was caught up in a ruthless civil war between the Islamic fundamentalists who wished to impose the Sharia, or Islamic law, and a military-backed government. Mgr Teissier’s courage and desire to stay alongside the Algerian people in their hour of need touched me.
I then forgot about the article and got on with the demands of being school chaplain and living the monastic round. During the school holiday's I suddenly felt inspired to write a word of support to Archbishop Teissier. I didn't have his address and just sent my short letter to the Archeveque d' Alger, Alger, Algeria and promptly forgot all about it. To my surprise a few months later a reply arrived written on behalf of the Archbishop by Fr John MacWilIiam, a former student of Worth School. I didn't know that Fr John, a White Father, was in Algeria so this added another twist to the plot.
Discovering this unknown link with Algeria whetted my interest. John came to visit Worth School and monastery on a few occasions and so my interest grew. In the summer of 2004 I visited the Tibhirine community which had regrouped in Morocco after the beheading of seven of their members in 1996. Worries about travelling on my own to the unknown world of North Africa were lessening and, encouraged by some of my monastic brethren, I decided that the time was ripe for a visit, or rather a pilgrimage, to the Algerian Church. So I emailed two people in Algiers, putting out feelers about the possibility of spending some time there. The first request received no reply. The second, sent a few weeks later, also drew a blank. The silence was ominous. I decided that I would have to give up this dream as it wasn't meant to be. The Lord wasn't in it. Shortly after resigning myself to not going to Algeria, I received an email horn Mgr Teissier inviting me to come and stay with him at the Diocesan House: 'We will welcome you with great joy'. The second person whom I had emailed had forwarded my letter to the Archbishop. So my prayers had been answered but only after I had first accepted an apparent 'No'.
I made my first visit to Algeria in April 2005, and in meeting Mgr Teissier, the people and clergy, I was energized by their love far and warm relationships with their Muslim brothers and sisters. I had drunk at the pure fountain of the Gospel message in all its wonderful simplicity. A second and more demanding visit followed in March/April 2006. At Archbishop Teissier’s suggestion I have written a book about the 19 martyrs, (Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People. Paulist Press, forthcoming), 19 lives freely given out of love for their Muslim brothers and sisters. This contact with a Church of martyrs, a Church which loves and is greatly loved by her Muslim friends, has been a deep source of inspiration for me. I have no idea where this interest will lead as visiting Algeria isn't easy. At the very least my three short visits to North Africa have given mc the ability to sec Muslims as fellow believers and as brothers and sisters made in the image and likeness of the one God. A monastic vocation can lead you to the most unexpected places!

“Touched by God: Ten Monastic Journeys”,

includes Fr. Martin McGee, OSB, monk of Work Abbey.
Edit L. Johns OSB,

Continuum International Publishing Group – Burns & Oats 10 April 2008.

Book:

“Christian Martyrs for a Muslim People” is written by Father Martin McGee, an English Benedictine monk of Worth Abbey.
(Publisher: Paulist Press, Publication Date: 2 September 2008)

Tells the moving story of the nineteen priests and sisters who were assassinated in Algeria between 1994 and 1996 during a reign of terror by Islamic fundamentalists

Synopsis
In the mid 1990s, Algerian society was terrorized by the GIA (The Armed Islamic Group), a fundamentalist organization that had given an ultimatum to all foreigners : depart or die. At the time, the beheading of seven Trappist monks at the Tibherine monastery was widely reported in the world press. This book tells their story, but also tells the story of twelve other priests and religious sisters who, like the Monks of Tibherine, had courageously chosen to stay in Algeria despite the threat, and who ultimately paid for their dedication with their lives. Drawing on letters, journals, and his own interviews with people who knew the nineteen religious, the author shows how they operated schools, performed vital medical assistance, sponsored community gardens, taught trades, prepared students for state examinations, and maintained libraries mainly in poor neighborhoods and rural villages. By witnessing Christ in their actions without ever attempting to make converts, the nineteen martyrs won the love of the Algerian people, a love that did not cease with their deaths.