The Monks of Tibhirine by John Kiser

Author:John Kiser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group
Published: 2002-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

To help him prepare for an upcoming African Synode, Bishop Teissier had asked Christophe’s reaction to its theme, “Mission of the church: to promote evangelical relations with Muslims.” Christophe, who was known to be Christian’s choice to succeed him as superior, did not like the word promote. Promoter of what, he wrote in his journal—of values, products, ideas, moral systems? Such an enterprise was doomed to failure, he thought. Competition in the marketplace of religion is simply too treacherous a territory. Are there not numerous paths to the top of Mount Fuji, paths that cross and can help others arrive at their goal? Yes, God really spoke to man through Jesus Christ, and this message should be heard by all. But “really” isn’t the same as “only.” Christians can be totally attached to Jesus and yet open to the possible divine messages in the other religions. Or are Christians incapable of that? Christophe wondered.

Were Muslims capable of the same openness that Christophe was asking of his own faithful? The question divided Muslims as well as Christians. Algerians who wanted the answer to be yes had picked May 8 as a day of protest against two years of bloodletting and mutisme. Mutisme—to say nothing, to hear nothing, and to know nothing—had become the only way to survive. It had become common to see mutilated bodies lining the streets of Algiers like so many dead cats. The incidence of ulcers and heart failures were of epidemic proportions.

The cautious took different routes to work each day. Alert pedestrians crossed over to the other side of the road if they were followed by someone for more than twenty-five yards. A hand reaching in a shirt pocket was a menacing gesture. Girls were killed for not wearing veils; others were killed for wearing them. Parents gave their daughters suicide pills in case they were captured by the GIA and forced into sexual slavery. Kiosk vendors were threatened by local emirs for selling Algerian-brand cigarettes, whose sales tax supported Taghut, were threatened by the police if they did not sell them. Many kiosks simply closed. Expressing a desire for peace and reconciliation in an atmosphere of mutisme was courageous. Reconciliation and tolerance were sentiments that could be viewed by the “eradicators” on both sides as sympathizing with the enemy.

On the day of the protest, the three-story Turkish mansion on rue Ben Cheneb opened as usual at one o’clock in the afternoon, despite all the commotion and crowds outside. The house had been donated to the diocese by a local businessman and converted into a place for students living in the overcrowded apartments of the Casbah and neighboring Bab el-Oued to work in peace and quiet. The elegantly tiled reading rooms on the main floor were less full than usual that day when Sister Paul-Hélène went to answer the doorbell. The two policemen she greeted wanted to talk with the director. As she led them into his office, one of the men shot Henri Vergès in the face as he rose from his desk.

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