Christian de Cherge: Spiritual Writings

Book excerpt: Christian de Chergé (1937-1996), a French Trappist, was prior of Our Lady of Atlas Monastery in Tibherine, Algeria. In 1995 he and six other members of his community were kidnapped and killed. From the film "Of Gods and Men," many will know Christian's final Testament as well as his and his Trappist confreres' discernment of a decision to remain in solidarity with their Algerian-Muslim neighbors even though it would eventually result in their deaths. However, De Chergé's significance extends far beyond the events of his last days. He not only loved Muslims, but across decades he befriended Muslims, learned from Muslims, prayed with Muslims, and appropriated key aspects of Islam. His was a Christian spirituality rooted in hope, conversion, humility, constancy, and what he called the martyrdom of love. In 2018 he was beatified by Pope Francis along with eighteen other victims of the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s.