On Friday, I wrote a reflection for the Flocknote email to our St Jude parishioners about St Dominic de la Calzada, a priest who was born in Spain in the 11th century who spent his life building roads and bridges along the pilgrimage route of St James. Today, I want to reflect upon a group of Trappist monks at the Tibhirine monastery in Algeria who were martyred for the faith on May 21, 1996. They had been abducted from their monastery two months earlier and were held hostage before they were beheaded by an armed Islamic group. These seven monks were beatified in the Catholic Church in 2018 after Pope Francis had declared them martyrs for the faith.
During the Easter season, we are called to reflect about the meaning of Christ’s death and resurrection in our lives of faith. Our community of saints shed light on the reality of Christ’s resurrection and how we can live in the light of the resurrection in the reality of our own lives.
The Trappist monastery at Tibhirine was founded in 1938 in Algeria not with the goal to convert Muslims to Christianity, but rather so that they could live in Christian witness and friendship with the local population. For years, the monastery was very beloved by the local community. During the Algerian civil war between Islamic rebels and the Algerian government which started in 1991, there was a climate of tension, violence, and increased discrimination against Christians. The monks at Tibhirine had been warned to leave Algeria. The monks held serious discussions about leaving, but decided to remain despite the dangers. The monks remained committed to their ministry and their monastery. During the civil war, the monks were pressured to take sides between the Islamist guerrillas and the Algerian government, but they refused. But, it is important to note that it was not only Christians who were persecuted during the civil war; over 100 Muslim imams were killed as well. After the monks were martyred, the Trappist monastery of Tibhirine relocated to Morocco, where it still operates today.
As modern day Christians, we are called to dialogue in the modern world. We are called to an encounter with the person of Christ. There were two monks who survived the abduction of the seven monks at Tibhirine. They still live in the monastery in Morocco. They say that their prayer today is for dialogue, healing, and reconciliation. What a great witness these monks are to the resurrection of Christ.
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