7 monks of Tibhirine ---

[Paul Newfield]

The Monks of Tibhirine: Faith, Love and Terror in Algeria
by John W. Kiser

For puchasing, reviews and other information about this book, follow this link.

The Monks of Tibhirine is a true story of Christian love set against political terrorism in contemporary Algeria. 

In the spring of 1996, militants of the Armed Islamic Group, today affiliated with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, broke into a Trappist monastery in war-torn Algeria. Seven monks were taken hostage, pawns in a murky negotiation to free imprisoned terrorists. Two months later, the severed heads of the monks were found in a tree not far from Tibhirine; their bodies were never recovered. 

The village of Tibhirine had sprung up around the monastery because it was a holy place, protected by the Virgin Mary, who is revered by Christians and Muslims alike. But after 1993, as the Algerian military government's war against Islamic terrorism widened, napalm, helicopters, and gunfire became regular accompaniments to their monastic routine. 

The harmony between these Christian monks and the Muslim neighbors of Tibhirine contrasts with the fear and distrust among Algerians fighting over power and what it means to be a Muslim. Woven into the story of the kidnapping and the political disintegration of Algeria is a classic account of Christian martyrdom. But these monks were not martyrs to their faith, as preaching Christianity to Muslims is forbidden in Algeria, but rather martyrs to their love of their Muslim neighbors, whom they refuse to desert in their hour of need.

Translation of review by Gilles Nicolad, Priest in Diocese of Algiers (and confidant of the monks) in Recontres, April 3, (monthly diocesan journal of Algeria).

"This book is not the first written about the monks of Tibhirine. It is the first of this importance published in English, but it could well be the best among all those written in any language so far. I was struck by the accurate rendering of the portraits of each of the monks, by the description of both the local and national contexts [of the events described], by the depths of his comprehension of the Cistercian calling; and of the vocation of our Algerian Church. I think it certainly merits being translated into French. Thank you to the author for the conscientiousness of his work, and to have written about this drama in a manner that it deserves."

 
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