c. 1996 Religion News Service

VATICAN CITY (RNS)-The Vatican expressed horror Friday (May 24) over the murder of seven French Trappist monks by Islamic extremists in Algeria and urged Muslims to unite against the violence that has gripped the country.

French President Jacques Chirac’s essentially confirmed earlier the same day that the monks, who had been kidnapped two months ago, had been executed. In response to Chirac’s apparent confirmation, the Vatican described the event as,”one of the saddest chapters in the history of Algeria.” Algeria’s militant Armed Islamic Group, which said it had”slit the throats”of the monks, tried to pin the blame for the murders on the French government, which refused to negotiate a prisoner swap with the Islamic group. Their members have been arrested in France and Algeria.

Chirac, praising the monks, who ranged in age from 50 to 82, suggested that his government would stand firm against talks with the fundamentalist group.”Their sacrifice teaches us a lesson,”he said in a statement.”The forces of hatred and intolerance will never be able to extinguish the flame of respect for others, of love for others.” The Vatican statement said that Pope John Paul II”appeals to Muslims to unite their efforts in such a way that the name of God will never be invoked to justify acts that constitute the most grave offense to God and to mankind.” Algeria’s civil war erupted in 1992 after the government scuttled elections in which the fundamentalist Islamic Salvation Front was poised to win. Since 1993 more than 40,000 civilians have been killed, including 116 foreigners and 39 from France, Algeria’s former colonial power.

The Catholic Church, among other groups, has sought to quietly broker peace talks in Algeria, but the effort has failed.

MJP END HEILBRONNER