Algerian Civil War(1992-2002) and Roman Catholics inside civil war

In 1989, Algeria faced political and economic liberalization policies. This political liberalization paved the way for the new constitution and afterwards multi-party elections. The Algerians complained about the power of the Front Liberation Nationale (FLN), which had continued since 1962. Because unemployment, poverty and corruption were increasing day by day. The people saw FLN as responsible of these social problems. Therefore, people started looking for alternative political parties.

FLN flag

Front Islamique du Salut (FIS) became prominent among these alternatives political parties. FIS had a strong mosque organization and university student organization. This helped the party communicate with many people. In a very short time the popularity of the party passed the FLN and became the most important candidate in general elections. Local elections in 1990 proved this and FIS became the winner party in local elections. It was the first party in many cities and won an absolute victory against the FLN.

FIS flag

But Algerian secular, members of the military and FLN leaders were very uneasy about this FIS's victory. The secular and army wing statements until the January 1991 general elections proved this discomfort.

The general elections in December 1991 were the beginning of the Algerian 10-year dark period. The FIS won the first leg of the general election and as a result of election, army took the action against FIS. In January 1992, the military seized power with coup d'etat.

After the 1992 military coup, a 10-year civil war between the military and the Islamist movement began. 

 

Hundreds of thousands of Algerians died during this civil war. Many Algerians today do not want to remember this bloody and dirty civil war. It was killed in 19 Catholics during the civil war.

In December 2018, a memorial ceremony was held in Oran, Algeria, for these Catholics were killed. The New York Times published a news last week about this ceremony. 

source: The New York Times, 2018

This ceremony took place with the participation of a cardinal from the Vatican. According to the head of the Algerian Department of Religious Affairs, this ceremony was the first in the Muslim world. Before the ceremony, the Pope recognized these 19 killed Catholics as martyrs. Pope Francis said in ceremony that their courageous witness is a source of hope for the Algerian Catholic community and a seed of dialogue for the entire society (The New York Times, 2018).

In my opinion, this ceremony has 2 importance. The first one is that Algeria, the vast majority of its population is Muslim, allowed the ceremony. This shows the tolerance of Algeria. Secondly, this is the most important thing, I think this ceremony shows the effort of reconciliation with Algeria's past. 

I hope that the process of reconciliation with the past will continue.

NEWS LINK: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/08/world/africa/algeria-catholic-monks.html