Christian de Chergé

Charles-Marie Christian de Chergé, O.C.S.O (Colmar, 18 January 1937 – 21 May 1996), was a French Cistercian, one of the seven monks kidnapped from the Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria, and believed to have been later killed by Islamists in 1996.

[1] He was born in Colmar, Haut-Rhin, in an aristocratic military family (whose moto is Recte Semper), and he spent part of his childhood in Algiers, French Algeria, where his father was commander of the 67th Artillery Regiment of Africa.

He never forgot this event, and later said: "In the blood of this friend, I knew that my calling to follow Christ meant to live, sooner or later, in the country where it was given to me the greatest gift of love".

De Chérgé had a mystical night, during Ramadan, on 21 September 1975, when it took place at the monastery chapel a common prayer between a Christian and a Muslim.

He founded, with Claude Rault, of the Missionaries of Africa, who became bishop of Sahara, the group Ribât-al-Salam (The Place of Peace), who discussed the Muslim tradition and spirituality, in the Spring of 1979.

The group had regular meetings at the monastery, representing a place for dialogue and prayer between Christians and Muslims, in mutual respect.

Dom De Chérgé had a bad feeling and decided to write his now famous testament, for two times, on 1 December 1993 and 1 January 1994.

On 7 October 2013, the Order of the Cistercians of the Strict Observance announced that the Archbishop of Algiers, with the agreement of the Abbot General and his council, had nominated Father Thomas Georgeon, his Secretary General, as the postulator of the process of beatification of Archbishop Pierre Lucien Claverie and 18 companions, including the 7 Tibhirine monks.