Tibhirine

During the night of March 27-28, 1996, seven monks of the Cistercian Monastery of Our Lady of Atlas, near the village of Tibhirine in Algeria, were abducted by Islamic fundamentalists. Their abduction was claimed by a radical faction of the GIA (Groupe Islamique Armé) in a communiqué dated April 18, 1996 and published on April 27. In a second communiqué, dated May 23, the GIA announced that the monks had been executed on May 21, 1996. Their remains were identified and their funeral Mass was celebrated in the Catholic Cathedral of Algiers on Sunday, June 2. They were buried in the cemetery of their monastery at Tibhirine on June 4, 1996.

• Testament of Dom Christian de Chergé
  
• Letter of the Abbot General on the meaning of the Atlas events (May 27, 1996)
• Second letter of the Abbot General to the Order (June 11, 1996)
• Third letter of the Abbot General to the Order (October 12, 1996)
• Fourth letter of the Abbot General to the Order (dated May 21, 1997)
• John Paul II’s message to the Order on the occasion of a Mass celebrated for the seven Brothers at Tre Fontane, in Rome, during the 1996 General Chapter
• Homily of Archbishop Tessier of Algiers on the same occasion