Posted on 01/05/2018 9:30:50 PM PST by marshmallow
They were martyred, probably by Islamic extremists, in the early 1990s
A bishop, seven Trappist monks and 11 other religious men and women killed by extremists in Algeria in the 1990s will soon be recognized as martyrs, the postulator for their causes said.
The decree for their beatification should be published sometime in January, Trappist Father Thomas Georgeon said on January 1 in an interview with Mondo e Missione (World and Mission), a monthly magazine and website run by the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.
A 10-year-long armed conflict between government forces and extremist Islamic rebel groups left tens of thousands of people dead, making the deaths of the 19 religious “a martyrdom in the midst of a sea of violence that devastated Algeria,” he said.
“To pay homage to these 19 Christian martyrs means also paying homage to the memory of all those who gave their life in Algeria those dark years” as they were killed “for their country and for their faith,” the priest said.
The conflict began in 1992 when the army cancelled the general election that fundamentalist politicians looked ready to win and cracked down on the Islamic Salvation Front political movement. Human rights groups said at least 44,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the war between extremist rebels and Algerian government forces.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicherald.co.uk ...
The film, “Of Gods and Men” is about this
It is a not to be missed level good movie
Yes, I agree. The movie is good...and I read a book on it as well.
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