The Trappists of Thibirine: Martyrs for a Christian-Muslim Dialogue (+1996)

On the night of 26/27 March 1996 seven monks of the Trappist Monastery of Thibirine in Algeria were abducted. The seven monks assassinated were: Dom Christian de Chergé (1937-1996), Brother Luc Dochier (1914-1996), Fr. Christophe Lebreton (1950-1996), Br. Michel Fleury (1944-1996), Fr. Bruno Lemarchand (1930-1996), Fr. Celestin Ringeard (1939-1996), and Br. Paul Favre-Miville (1939-1996). Almost two months later their captors announced their death: they had been shot and their heads severed from their bodies. Their bodies were never found while their heads were found on 21 May 1996 looking mummified as they had been buried and then disinterred before being left beside a tree in Algeria. Their burial took place at the monastery on 4th June 1996 after a solemn funeral at the Cathedral of Algiers.