The Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (the Trappists) announced that,
On October 7, Archbishop Bader of Algiers, with the agreement of the Abbot General and his Council, appointed Father Thomas Georgeon, monk of La Trappe and present Secretary of the Abbot General, as postulator of the cause of Archbishop Claverie and his 18 companions (among them our 7 brothers of Tibhirine). The appointment was approved by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on October 11, 2013.
The 7 monks of the Monastery of Notre-Dame de l’Atlas were killed 26/27 March 1996. The Atlas Martyrs:
- Dom Christian (de Chergé) – prior of the community
- Brother Luc (Paul Dochier)
- Father Christophe (Lebreton)
- Brother Michel (Fleury)
- Father Célestin (Ringeard)
- Father Bruno (born Christian Lemarchand)
- Brother Paul (Favre-Miville).
A 2010 film on the monks was released, “Of God and Men” which was well-received.
You may want to read Christian Salenson’s Christian de Chergé: A Theology of Hope (Cistercian Publications, 2012).