On March 27, 1996, a group of terrorists allegedly linked to the Armed Islamic Group kidnapped and subsequently murdered seven monks from the Tibhirine monastery in Algeria. The events were narrated in the film Of gods and menwhich achieved great notoriety a few years ago. One of the survivors was Father Jean-Pierre Schumacher, who sees in the example of his murdered brothers a testimony of friendship towards Islam and forgiveness towards their kidnappers.
The father Jean-Pierre Schumacher was one of the survivors of the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the Cistercian monks of the Tibhirine Monastery (Algeria) in 1996. He is currently 89 years old and lives in the monastery of Notre-Dame de l'Atlas. Kasbah Myriemin the Moroccan town of Midelt. During a conversation with Palabra, he recalls those events and reflects on martyrdom and monasticism.
What does it mean to be a Christian monk in a Muslim-majority country?
To be a monk in a Muslim country is to have a Christian presence in these lands in the name of Jesus and the Church. A presence through which we do not seek any satisfaction beyond allowing ourselves to be inhabited by Him, and to participate in the best of the lives of the people who have welcomed us, as much as the Cistercian contemplative vocation allows us. In this way we become part of their lives, we share their worries and their hopes, their needs and their joys, their sufferings. Therefore, it is a gratuitous presence in which we receive everything through prayer. This desire to live with the people of this place leads us to learn their language, to know their cultural heritage and to make the most of the material resources at our disposal according to our possibilities.
-How is life in the monastery?
Life in the monastery is structured in three areas of activities: on the one hand, the Divine Office and daily Eucharist, as well as time for individual prayer; secondly, the reading of the sacred texts during times of rest; and finally the work that each religious has been assigned according to his or her aptitudes: administration, relations with suppliers and public authorities, liturgy, welcoming visitors and people who come for spiritual exercises, accounting, and so on. We dedicate eight hours a day to each of these three activities.
-How long have you been a monk?
I entered the Abbey of Notre Dame de Timadeuc (Brittany, France) in 1957. I made my solemn profession on August 20, 1960, the Solemnity of St. Bernard.
I had felt called to the monastic life during my novitiate with the Marist Fathers in 1948. This intimate call continued during my studies of philosophy and theology at the seminary of the Marist Fathers in Lyon, and also later, during the four years that I served as an educator at the vocation center for young aspirants to the priesthood of Saint Brieucin Brittany. It was then that, in agreement with my superiors, I made the decision to enter the abbey of Timadeuc. When I arrived there, in October 1957, I did so with the intention of spending the rest of my life with the brothers participating in community life, which is, according to the Benedictine rule followed by the Cistercian order, a "school of divine service". Therefore he had no other pretension than to learn to love God. I could not imagine at all that divine providence had other ways for me. As the proverb says, "man proposes and God disposes".
-When did you arrive at the Tibhirine monastery?
It was September 19, 1964. I was part of a group of three religious appointed by the community of Timadeuc to respond to an urgent request from Cardinal Duval, Archbishop of Algiers, to maintain the small monastery of Tibhirine, which was about to close. The archbishop wished that, despite the massive departure of Europeans and Christians at the end of the Algerian war of 1962, the Church would remain in place, and at the same time offer a new face: that of a Church at the service of all Algerians, whatever their religion. The monastery, according to the cardinal's thinking, should have its own space. I liked the direction my life would thus take: while maintaining its monastic character, it took on the face of a Christian presence in the midst of the Muslim community. It was necessary to discover, through the spirit of the Second Vatican Council, the most suitable mode of presence.
The small group from Timadeuc was not alone. A group of four monks sent by the monastery of Aiguebelle (Rhone) joined us. Then two other monks arrived from the abbey of Citeaux (Burgundy), including Father Etienne Roche, who became our first prior. Upon our arrival we met three monks from the old community established there. Among them was Father Amédée. Thus began the Tibhirine adventure; or rather, it "restarted" but with a new face. An adventure that lasted 32 years, from 1964 to 1996.
-What was life like in the Tibhirine monastery?
The rhythm of the daily routine was as I have explained above. There was also a particular relationship with the neighbors of the small village of Tibhirine: it was necessary a process of inculturation, of discovering each other with our differences of language, culture, religion and nationality. We managed to be accepted as Christian monks through joint activities, such as work in the garden or medical care for the poor and sick in Brother Luc's clinic inside the monastery. There was also the retreat house, monastic prayer for religious and priests, in which lay people also participated, and, later, the biannual meetings with Sufi Muslims. Through all these activities we were interested in the life, concerns and joys of the people. In short: as Father Charles de Foucauld pointed out, the witness to the Gospel was realized more by our way of being and doing than by our words.
The term "conversion" implies "converting" ourselves, rather than trying to convert others. The purpose of our presence there was to live for the people of Tibhirine, to share their experiences, to cultivate their friendship, to walk together towards God in coexistence, respecting the religious and cultural identity of our neighbors and identifying with them, accepting as our own the diversity of religion or nationality.
-When did the problems start?
The situation became difficult and dangerous when the Algerian government interrupted the electoral process when it perceived that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) could take control of the country. The FIS then took to the bush and began guerrilla activity. Those were the black years, between 1993 and 1996.
-Why did you decide to stay in Tibhirine despite the danger?
First of all, it seemed to us totally wrong to opt for a solution that would imply withdrawing to a place free from danger, as the authorities of the French embassy in Algeria and the governor of Médéa (the province to which Tibhirine belongs) were asking us to do, while the local population, our neighbors, did not have the option of leaving to escape the violence. Moreover, our presence gave them security.
The second reason is linked to our vocation. We were sent by the Lord to ensure a Christian presence among the Muslims. To flee under the pretext of danger seemed to us to be a serious breach of trust in the Lord: it would have been like doubting that He had really sent us.
-What happened the night of the kidnapping?
The kidnapping of the monks took place during the night of March 26-27, 1996, between 1:00 and 1:30 in the morning. A group claiming to belong to the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) had entered the monastery grounds by jumping over the wall, and then entered the building through the back door that connects the garden with the basement. They first detained the monastery guard, a young family man, and forced him to lead them into the prior's office, and then into the room of Brother Luc, the doctor.
Father Amédée looked through the keyhole in the lock of his door and saw two of the kidnappers in the room to which his cell overlooked and who were shuffling around. They did not try to enter the cell, for they saw that the door was locked. That was how Amédée escaped from the kidnapping. Then they went up to the second floor and took prisoner the five monks who slept there. In the guesthouse, adjacent to that floor, there were some guests who had arrived the night before. One of them, intrigued by the complaints of the fathers, wanted to find out what was going on. He left his room and met the monastery guard, who discreetly warned him of the danger and told him to leave. In the meantime, the kidnappers removed the monks from their rooms, but did not enter the area where the guests were.
I, being the porter, slept in the monastery porter's lodge. The assailants, led by the guard directly to the second floor, did not try to enter the porter's lodge and, as soon as they got hold of the seven monks, they left the place believing that they had already caught the whole community. Father Amédée and I were still there, but they did not know we were there. For the same reason, we also did not witness how they took our brothers out of the building. They probably did it through the back door of the cloister.
Shortly after leaving his cell, Father Amédée first noticed the disappearance of Brother Luc and Father Christian, our prior. Then he went up to the second floor and saw that the other monks had also disappeared. On his way back to the first floor, he called me - I was still in the porter's lodge - to tell me what had happened. "Do you know what happened?"he told me; "our brothers have been kidnapped. We are alone.".
-What did they do next?
Father Amédée, two priests staying at the guesthouse and I decided to pray Vespers. Then, when the curfew was lifted at sunrise, we sent all our guests to Algiers. Then I went with Father Thierry Becker - one of our guests - to Draâ-Esmar to report the events to the military in charge of local security, and then to Médeá to warn the gendarmerie. We did not manage to warn them first by telephone, because all the lines had been destroyed by the kidnappers. On our way back to the monastery we met a group of military security who interrogated the guard and Father Amédée. Father Amédée, Father Thierry Becker and I were then forced to spend the night in a hotel in the village.
Finally, we were transferred to the diocesan house in Algiers. We prayed to the Lord for our confreres, that He would give them sufficient strength and union with Him so that they could remain faithful to their vocation, come what may. On May 27, we were informed of his death by means of a cassette of the GIA addressed to the French government. We have the intimate certainty that they gave their lives in perfect offering to the Lord, as stated in Father Christian's will.
-What did you and Father Amédée feel when you found yourselves alone after the kidnapping?
We were shocked, even though we knew that, in that context of violence, something like this could happen at any moment. We did not want to die martyrs. Our vocation remained to remain among the Muslims and among our Algerian friends, for better or for worse.
-Why do you think God did not call you to martyrdom, like the other monks?
The life of each religious is dedicated to the Lord according to his religious profession. Each one of us has to ask himself that question, and find the answer that the Spirit suggests to him. It was not the time to think about it. We had to get down to work to face the new situation: as far as possible, not to lower our guard in the face of what happened to our confreres, and to ask ourselves what the Lord wanted of us for the future.
-What do you think of the terrorists who murdered the monks?
We still do not know who killed the monks and why. The investigations have not yet provided definitive data. However, I think the exact answer to your question should be based on Father Christian's will: "And to you too, friend of the last instant, who will not know what you are doing, yes, because also for you I want to say this thank you and this 'a-god' in whose face I contemplate you. And may it be given to us to meet again, thieves filled with joy, in paradise, if it so pleases God, our Father, Father of us both. Amen.".
-What is the point of dying a martyr today?
It seems to me that martyrdom is not something that can be sought as a life project that one offers oneself. To be a martyr means to be a witness. The term is often used for anyone who remains faithful to the Lord, who neither fears nor hesitates to bear very painful affronts, and even to expose one's life if necessary. Martyrdom is something that happens without being chosen for oneself, but in which we freely engage out of loyalty. It requires the grace of God.
-Are you homesick for Tibhirine?
I continue to show my love and best wishes to my friends in Tibhirine. I keep in touch with them via phone and email. In any case, I believe that a feeling of homesickness is not appropriate; it is unnecessary and unhealthy. We should be body and soul where the Lord wants us to be. While it is true that, from the very beginning, when we started in Morocco, we have looked with hope at the possibility of resettling in Algeria as soon as circumstances permit.
