The Martyrs of Algeria 1994 - 1996
Today is the feast day of 19 men and women religious killed in Algeria between 1994 and 1996, of whom 4 are Missionaries of Africa (white Fathers). 
We could say that there is nothing really unusual about their death at that time of civil war in Algeria when the GIA (Groupe Islamique Armé) and other armed islamist groups were at war with anyone who was not one of them. Atrocities were being committed by all sides; both the government and its enemies. Many innocent people, Muslims as well as Christian missionaries, died, victims of this conflict.
What makes these men and women stand out is that they were all foreign missionaries who refused to leave their adopted land of mission and stayed on out of love for the people with whom they lived. They lived and shared their dangers and their difficulties, rather than return to the comfort and the safety in their own homelands in Europe.
Of the 4 Missionaries of Africa who died, one had only finished his studies to be a missionary priest and was ordained in 1992, 2 years before his death, aged 36. Fr. Ferdinand, of the community of missionaries here in Liverpool, spent a year with him during his studies preparing for the priesthood. Cardinal Michael, also of this community, ordained him as priest.
For more than 150 years, the Missionaries of Africa have remained faithful to their mission in Algeria. This is a country where almost 100% of the people are Muslim. It is forbidden for them to become Christian. However, the missionaries remain there, to continue to witness to Christ’s love for this people. They respect the people’s Muslim faith. They recognise its beauty and its goodness, in its desire to serve God through prayer, through acts of charity and in faithfulness to the laws of the Qur’an. They wish to increase a better understanding and friendship between the people of the two faiths and in Christ’s name they abide in their midst.
This is why, the 4 Missionaries of Africa, Christian Chessel, Jean Chevillard, Alain Dieulangard from France and Charles Decker from Belgium were beatified and declared blessed by Pope Francis in December 2019. There were 15 others in the group.
For more information on them, please look up: http://newsaints.faithweb.com/martyrs/Algeria.htm ; and in French: https://19martyrs.jimdofree.com/mgr-claverie-et-ses-18-compagnons/qui-sont-ils/christian-chessel/
Terry
