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May 27, 1996
During these days in which we are living, between Pentecost Sunday and Trinity Sunday, when at the cathedral of Algiers, as in all the communities of the O.C.S.O., we will be holding a memorial for our seven Brothers of Atlas, it seems to me important to try to reread in the light of faith the events which have affected us all so profoundly since the announcement of the death of our Brothers.
The Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente of Pope John Paul ll concerning preparation for the Jubilee of the Year 2000 recalls that the Church of the first millennium was born from the blood of martyrs. This is a witness not to be forgotten (TMA,37). Our Brothers of Atlas leave us this witness today, when we are about to celebrate in 1998 the 900 years of the foundation of Citeaux and, in the year 2000, the 2000 years since the birth and death of Jesus Christ. A witness not to be forgotten.
The mystery of man, of every man, is only truly manifest in the mystery of the Word made man: the witness of our Brothers as the witness of all of us monks and nuns, men and women believers, can only be understood in the light of the witness of Jesus Christ. And here is the witness of the Faithful Witness: God is Love! Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing! May your Kingdom come, forgive us our sins as we forgive those who have sinned against us!
The decision of our Brothers of Atlas is not unique. All of us, as monks and nuns of the Benedictine-Cistercian tradition, take a vow of "stability" which binds us until death to our community and to the place where that community lives. Many communities of our Order faced with war and armed violence in the course of these past years have had to reflect anew and seriously on the meaning of this commitment and make the decision whether to leave their monastery or to remain in that place. This was the case with the communities of Huambo and Bela Vista in Angola, with the community of Butende in Uganda, with the community of Marija Zvijezda at Banja Luka in Bosnia, and quite recently with our Brothers of Mokoto in Za‹re. While Huambo, Bela Vista, Butende and Marija Zvijezda chose to remain where their monastery was, the Brothers of Mokoto decided to take the road to exile. In each of these cases the decision was taken by the whole community as a result of community discussions.
How can we understand the depth of this vow in the life of a monk? Perhaps the text of the letter that Father Christian had planned to send on the 28 December 1993 to Sayah Attiya, chief of the GIA and of the armed group who came to the monastery on Christmas Eve, could give us the sense of this vow: "Brother, allow me to address you like this, as man to man, believer to believer (...). In the present conflict in which our country is living, it seems to us impossible to take sides. The fact that we are foreigners forbids it. Our state as MONKS (ruhbƒn) binds us to the choice of God for us, which is prayer and the simple life, manual work, hospitality and sharing with everyone, especially with the poor (...) These reasons for our life are a free choice for each one of us. They bind us until death. I do not think that it is the will of God that this death should come to us through you (...) If, one day the Algerians judge that we are unwelcome, we will respect their desire to see us leave. With very great regret. I know that we will continue to love them ALL, as a whole, and that includes you. When and how will this message reach you? It doesn't matter! I needed to write it to you today. Forgive me for having written in my mother tongue. You understand me. And may the ONLY ONE of all life lead us! AMIN!"
I think it is important to recall here the major stages of this discernment as the Brothers of Atlas were able to live it since the visit of six armed persons on the eve of Christmas 1993 when they had sought to compromise them and oblige them to "collaborate" with the armed movement (medical aid, economic support and logistical help). When the Wali (= the Prefect) of Medea offered them armed protection, the monks refused since they wished to be a sign of peace for every one. They also refused to live in an area "protected" by Medea rather than in the monastery. They agreed to close the doors from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 in the morning and to have a new telephone line laid to the house of the guardian.
In the days that followed, the monks decided finally, through a series of community votes, to reject any form of collaboration with the armed group (except, if necessary, medical aid in the monastery itself), to remain in Atlas, though provisionally reducing the number of brothers in the monastery, not to return to France if they had, one day, to leave Atlas, but rather to go to Morocco, and wait there till circumstances enabled them to return to Atlas.
They decided, finally, not to receive any novices at Atlas. To the Apostolic Nuncio who had invited them in a letter of 24 June to come and live at the Nunciature, the brothers replied that for the moment they didn't see the need to transfer the community to the residence of the Nunciature but that if the time came for this, they would discern with the Nuncio and the Bishop what they ought to do.
On the 16 December 1994, the Brothers of Atlas, at the end of further community discussions, had wished to take new votes to confirm their option of the previous year. Mgr. Teissier, who had come to visit them during this time, had left them a message in which he thanked them for taking this risk of prolonging their presence and their witness, even though armed groups were increasingly passing through their district. He told them once more how significant was their presence of prayer and daily work in Tibhirine for the whole Christian community of Algiers and he thanked them for the courage of this fidelity.
In the discernment which led to this decision to remain at Atlas despite the prevailing tense situation, the Brothers were conscious of the possibility of a violent death. The letter Father Christian wrote to me after the assassination of the two religious sisters in September 1995 said it clearly: "The celebration had a beautiful atmosphere of serenity and offering. It brought together a very small church, whose remaining members are perfectly conscious that the logic of their presence must include henceforth the possibility of a violent death. It is for many as it were a new and radical immersion into the very charism of their congregation...and also a return to the source of the first call. For all that, it is clear that the desire of all is that none of these Algerians to whom our consecration binds us in the name of the love which God brings to them, may wound this love by killing any of us, any of our brethren". Father Christian's reflection on the possibility of a violent death had become his prayer, that of a man who wants to be totally disarmed of any form of violence in face of his fellow, his brother: "Lord, disarm me and disarm them".
On at least three other occasions, especially on the assassination of other men and women religious to whom he was close, Father Christian recalled this possibility. After the assassination of the Marist brother Henri: "I was personally very close to Henri. His death seemed to me so natural, so in keeping with a long life entirely given to the humdrum. He seemed to me to belong to the category that I call "martyrs of hope", those who are never spoken of because all their blood is poured out in the endurance of day to day life. I understand "monastic martyrdom" in this sense. And this instinct leads us, at present, to change nothing, except in an on-going effort at conversion (but there again, no change!) (Letter of 5 July 1994).
After the death of the Augustinian missionaries when the Brothers once again made the choice of remaining in spite of the risks: "(...) The communities of men seem to be standing by their option to remain. This is clear so far for the Jesuits, the Little Brothers of Jesus, all the White Fathers. It is also clear for us. At Tibhirine as elsewhere, this option has its risks, that is obvious. Each one has told me that he wants to take them, in a journey of faith into the future, and in sharing the present with a neighbourhood who have always been very much bound to us. The grace of this gift is given to us from day to day, very simply. At the end of September we had another nocturnal "visit". This time the "brothers of the mountain" wanted to use our telephone. We pretended that we were listening-in... then we emphasized the contradiction between our state and any kind of complicity with what could harm the life of another. They gave us assurances, but the threat was there, supported by arms." (Letter of 13 November 1994).
After the assassination of the sisters of Our Lady of the Apostles: "The Pope has been kind enough to send a special delegate to preside at the obsequies, the Secretary of the Congregation for Religious, etc. We were able to meet him this afternoon at a meeting of Bishops and Major Superiors. He was particularly impressive. With a smile and with great conviction, he confirmed us in our present situation, in relation to the history of the Church, to the design of God, and to our religious vocation which includes the possibility of "martyrdom", as well as to the need for availability for that form of personal fidelity which the Spirit wishes to arouse and give here and now. This does not stand in the way of certain concrete dispositions and elementary reflections of prudence and discretion" (Letter of 7 September 1995).
In the course of the XX century, two other communities of our Order have given to the Church and to the world authentic martyrs of love and faith: the 33 martyrs of Notre Dame de Consolation, in China, in 1947-1948, and the 19 martyrs of Our Lady of Viaceli, in Spain, in 1936-1937. The cause for the beatification of these martyrs has already been introduced in Rome. Our seven Brothers of Notre Dame de l'Atlas come to give us the same testimony of love and faith.
In these three situations, it is not a matter of an individual grace but of a community grace. In a cenobitical context such as that of a Cistercian monastery, it is difficult not to be gripped by this fact of a life lived and given together. And this community grace of martyrdom will equally be an ecclesial grace. The love of our Brothers for the Church of Algeria and for their local Church of Algiers is well known. Their life and their death is written in the register of all those men and women, religious, Christians and Muslims who have lived and given their lives for God and for others.
On the 27 April 1996, a month after the abduction of the monks, the newspaper Al Hayat published extracts from communiqu‚ 43 of the Groupe Islamiste Arm‚ (GIA), dated 18 April: the emir of the GIA would not recognize the aman, the protection which his predecessor had accorded them, and moreover this aman would not have been licit since the monks, so the communiqu‚ reported, "have not ceased to invite the Muslims to be evangelized, to display their slogans and symbols and to commemorate their feasts with solemnity". The emir states, moreover, that "monks who live among the working classes can be legitimately killed", and this is the case with the monks of Atlas: "they live with people and draw them away from the divine path inciting them to be evangelized". And he ended by saying : "it is also licit to apply to them what applies to lifelong unbelievers, when they are prisoners of war: murder, slavery or exchange for Muslim prisoners". Then comes the warning: the non-liberation of the prisoners of the GIA will have as consequence the death of the monks. "The choice is yours. If you liberate, we shall liberate, if you refuse, we will cut their throats. Praise be to God." Our Brothers have been condemned to death in the name of the Gospel they professed. Condemned to death for the "glory of God".
After the assassination of Br. Henri, Father Christian wrote to a group of friends: "There is no greater love than to give one's life for those we love... said Jesus in the Gospel of this 8 May 1994. If this word sounds so right for the life of Br. Henri, it is not because it describes his last day. It is because we recognize that our brother was essentially "given" to the point of that perfect gift of forgiveness included in advance in the first proposition he sent me to adjust to the present situation the concrete orientations of our [group]: In our day to day relations, let us openly take the part of love, of forgiveness, of communion, against hate, vengeance, violence" (Letter of 15 May 1994).
At the end of the retreat before Christmas 1994, Father Christophe recapitulated the special points of this retreat, those that had struck him, challenged him. I could quote it all. I take this paragraph from the middle of his text: "And I see clearly that our particular way of living - as cenobitic monks - well! it resists, it holds fast and it supports. To explain this a little. The Office: The words of the psalms resist, are an integral part of the situation, violence, anguish, lies and injustice. Yes, there are enemies. One cannot force oneself to say too quickly that one loves them, without doing an injustice to the memory of the victims whose numbers increase each day. Holy God. Strong God. Come to our help! Come quickly to our aid!"
At Easter 1995 I was with the Sisters of Huambo in Angola; the war was only a few months over. On Easter morning, Sister Tavita made her temporary profession. She had chosen as the Scripture reading for her profession the passage from the Gospel on love of one's enemies. Trial can be a crushing experience: it can also give place to forgiveness and love of enemies. It has a meaning, a meaning of receiving and recognizing. And it is perhaps only the discovery of this meaning which enables Father Christophe to lend to Brother Luc the last word which comes to conclude and sign his reflection at the end of this spiritual retreat: "For the first of January 1994, the beginning of the year and the month of his 80th birthday, in the refectory, we heard the cassette which he was keeping in reserve for the day of his funeral: Edith Piaf singing: "No, I have no regrets!" "
"Then I saw: a lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered... (Apocalypse 5,6).
"Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they did not cling to life even in the face of death." (Apo 12, 10-11).
"After this I looked, and there was a great multitude...standing before the throne and before the Lamb...who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb...and the Lamb will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes" (Apo 7, 9.14.17).
On the 23 May 1996, we learned from the French Minister for Foreign Affairs that a Moroccan radio had broadcast a new communiqu‚ (number 44) from the GIA. This communiqu‚ speaks of the execution of our Brothers by their kidnappers and must be read in the light of the previous communiqu‚ and the reasons for their condemnation recalled by the emir of the GIA and which allowed for: murder, slavery or exchange for Muslim prisoners. As there has not been an exchange of prisoners, the GIA has decided to apply the predicted sentence: "On the 18 April 1996, we published a communiqu‚ (...) And we said: If you set free (Abdelhak Layada...), we will set free (the monks), if you refuse, we will cut their throats. On the 30 April 1996, we sent an emissary to the French ambassador (...) bearing an audio cassette proving that the monks were still living, and a written message detailing the clauses of the negotiations, if they (the French) wished to recover their prisoners alive. At first they showed themselves disposed (to do this) and wrote us a letter signed and sealed (...) Some days later, the French president and his Minister for Foreign Affairs declared that they would not dialogue or negotiate with the Groupe Islamique Arm‚. They interrupted what they had begun and we have cut the throats of the seven monks, faithful (in this) to our promise (...) Praise be to God (...) And this was done this morning (21 May)"
The life and death of our seven Brothers of Atlas is a witness not to be forgotten. Let not diplomacy, politics or a non-transcendental view of these events come to deprive us of the voice of our martyrs and silence the clamour of their cry of love and of faith. From the martyrdom of spiritual combat to the martyrdom of blood poured out, it is the same cry which calls to forgiveness and love of one's enemies. Life is stronger than death: love has the last word!
Dear Brothers and Sisters, at the dawn of the 9th Centenary of Citeaux and of the Jubilee of the Year 2000, these events are a "sign of the times" for us, a Word of God which will not return to him without having made our hearts fertile and fruitful. Today, if you hear his voice as persons and as communities, do not close your heart but hear this pressing invitation to persevere in conversion and in the radical journey of the following of Jesus and his Gospel. May the example of our 7 Brothers stir up in us the fire of love (ferventissimo amore, RB 72) until we owe nothing but to love one another, and until we can love and forgive those who have killed our Brothers. It is only in this way, by forgiving and loving to the end, that we will be Christians like Christian, and that we will be able to reach the end of our lives like him, making our own the words of his testimony:
And you too, my last minute friend, who would not have known
what you were doing,
Yes, for you too I say this THANK YOU and this "A-DIEU"
to commend you to the God in whose face I see yours.
And may we find each other, happy "good thieves", in Paradise,
if it please God, the Father of us both. AMEN!
***
I embrace you fraternally in Mary of Saint Joseph,
Dom Benardo Olivera
Abbot General
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