The Last Monk of Tibhirine is the story of the Cistercian monk Jean-Pierre Schumacher, the last surviving member of a monastic community kidnapped and killed in Algeria. On the night of March 26, 1996, seven monks from the monastery Notre-Dame de l'Atlas of Tibhirine were kidnapped. Only two members of the community, Brother Jean-Pierre and Brother Amedee (since deceased) had the chance to escape. They did; and today Brother Jean-Pierre lives alone devoted to prayer and unconditional love and welcome. Author Freddy Derwahl was struck by the faith of Jean-Pierre and the book recounts his childhood in Lorraine through years of World War and recalls lost friends and brothers. Derwahl enlightens and illuminates the words of Jean-Pierre, and the profound witness of his brother monks.

Details the true story of seven monks kidnapped from a Trappist monastery in war-torn Algeria to be used as negotiation tools to free imprisoned terrorists and whose severed heads were found in a tree two months later.

Intro -- Titlepage -- Copyright -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Notes on Translation and Terms -- Introduction Interfaith Dialogue: Walking Together Toward Truth -- PART I MEETING GOD IN MUSLIMS -- 1 Mary, Mercy, and Basketball -- 2 What We Fear, and Who Gets Hurt -- PART II ENCOUNTERING GOD IN ISLAM -- 3 God Is Greater -- 4 The Width of a Hair -- PART III REEMBRACING GOD IN CHRISTIANITY -- 5 Arriving Where We Started -- 6 The Dialogue of Life -- Appendices -- A Discussion Questions -- B Guidelines for Dialogue with Muslims -- C A Joint Prayer for Christians and Muslims -- D Resources for Further Study -- E Glossary -- F Pronunciations and Definitions of Select Given Names -- Notes

BERNARD DE GIVE, for many years a member of the Society of Jesus, was for eight years a seminary professor, first in Sri Lanka then in India, before pursuing oriental studies at Oxford, where he formed friendships with Tibetan monks. Since becoming a Trappist in 1972, the author has enjoyed meeting monks of other religions: Hindu Swamis, Jain ascetics, Buddhist monks and, above all, Tibetan Lamas. In 1977, a Benedictine and Cistercian Commission for Monastic Interreligious Dialogue (DIM - MID) was established, and it was under these auspices that the author was able to visit numerous Tibetan centres in Western Europe but also in India and in Tibet itself. The invasion of Tibet by the Chinese communists in 1950, followed by the voluntary exile of the Dalai Lama and large numbers of Tibetans, overturned the political and cultural circumstances of a country which, though fiercely isolated for centuries, now found itself suddenly propelled beyond its borders. This traditional culture thus became accessible to Westerners who were eagerly seeking a form of spirituality which corresponded to their needs and their anxieties. The author, though he has a most real sympathy towards the Dharma and its followers, is not a Buddhist, nor even a seeker. While stressing the 'obvious and considerable' doctrinal differences, he experiences an undeniable sense of encounter in depth with Tibetan Buddhists: 'The truest essence of the dialogue partners, especially when they are monks, encounters a kindred spirit. Whether in conversation or in silence, they find themselves in total dialogue.'

McGee presents a timely and heartfelt plea encouraging Christians everywhere to cultivate harmonious relationships with their Muslim neighbors. In writing a touching account of the story of the martyred Trappist monks of Tibhirine, he highlights the way in which this particular order has provided an inspiring example of interreligious friendship by reaching out to their Muslim fellow believers in modern-day North Africa.

"The inspiration for the major motion picture "Of Gods and Men" A true story of Christian love set against political terrorism in contemporary Algeria. In the spring of 1996, militants of the Armed Islamic Group, today affiliated with Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, broke into a Trappist monastery in war-torn Algeria. Seven monks were taken hostage, pawns in a murky negotiation to free imprisoned terrorists. Two months later, the severed heads of the monks were found in a tree not far from Tibhirine; their bodies were never recovered. The village of Tibhirine had sprung up around the monastery because it was a holy place, protected by the Virgin Mary, who is revered by Christians and Muslims alike. But after 1993, as the Algerian military government's war against Islamic terrorism widened, napalm, helicopters, and gunfire became regular accompaniments to their monastic routine. The harmony between these Christian monks and the Muslim neighbors of Tibhirine contrasts with the fear and distrust among Algerians fighting over power and what it means to be a Muslim. Woven into the story of the kidnapping and the political disintegration of Algeria is a classic account of Christian martyrdom. But these monks were not martyrs to their faith, as preaching Christianity to Muslims is forbidden in Algeria, but rather martyrs to their love of their Muslim neighbors, whom they refuse to desert in their hour of need.

Christophe Lebreton, aged forty-six, was the youngest of the seven Trappist monks assassinated in Algeria by terrorists in 1996. He was also the poet of the group. Anyone who was enthralled by the recent film Of Gods and Men should find in Brother Christophe's Journal ample and deeply moving material for meditation on both the light and the darkness inherent in the human condition. The Journal begins in 1993, four months before the terrorists' first visit to the monastery at Tibhirine, and it ends on March 19, 1996, just seven days before the monks' abduction. Entry after entry touches readers both by its vivid sincerity and by the fresh and inventive quality of its poetic expression. Through these pages readers become privy to the daily events in the soul of a generous searcher after God under very trying conditions. His style is highly personal, playful, ardent, full of color and whimsy.