Diocese of Rome remembers the martyrs of Algeria

One year has passed since the beatification of the martyrs of Algeria in Oran on December 8, 2018, among whom is our Brother Henri Vergès who was the first of the group to be killed.

To celebrate the first anniversary, there was a celebration of “witness and prayer” in memory of the nineteen individuals killed in the civil war in Algeria between 1994 and 1996. The meeting took place in the parish of San Miguel de Frumenzio on Monday, December 9, 2019 with the support of the Diocesan Missionary Center of the Diocese of Rome to the Group of New Martyrs, composed of Archè, Window on the Middle East, John Paul II Foundation for Cooperation and Development, the parish of Pope St. Inocencio I, St. Guido Bishop and the Missionary Community of Villaregia.

Father Thomas Georgeon, O.C.S.O., postulator of the cause for beatification of the nineteen martyrs, stressed the message of “peaceful dialogue between the Christian and Muslim religions” that these witnesses of faith have left us, and he pointed out that “it was a true miracle to have been able to celebrate this beatification together with the Algerian people.”

Professor Ambrogio Bongiovanni, of the Pontifical Gregorian University, presented a reflection on the “mission in vulnerability” carried out by the Algerian Church through its “prophetic dialogue” with the Algerian people.

The attendees had the opportunity to view the exhibition “Our Lives Have Already Been Surrendered”, published by the Italian Missionary Publishing House, that was set up on the premises of San Frumenzio Parish and interpreted with the “faces and words of the nineteen blessed”.

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Br. Antonio Martínez Estaún, Postulator General