Beatification of 19 Catholic clerics: “Great sign of brotherhood from Algeria for the world”

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APS : Saturday, 08 December 2018

ORAN (Algeria) – The Beatification, on Saturday in Oran, of the 19 Catholic clerics, killed in Algeria during the dark decade (years of terrorism), is a “great sign of brotherhood from Algeria for the whole world,
” said Pope Francis.
This “unprecedented event in the country will draw in the Algerian sky a great sign of brotherhood addressed to the whole world,” added the Pope in a message, read Saturday by a member of the delegation of Vatican, during the Beatification mass of Former bishop Father Pierre Claverie and 18 other martyrs.
Pope Francis also thanked President of the Republic Abdelaziz Bouteflika, for having made possible the celebration on Algerian soil.
He also expressed affection and closeness to the Algerian people “who experienced great suffering during the social crisis of which they were victims in the last years of the last century”.
May this celebration, he said, “help to heal the wounds of the past and to create a new dynamic of encounter and coexistence in the following of our Blessed”.
The Beatification ceremony has been inaugurated by a short speech of the Bishop of Oran Jean Pierre Vesco, who mentioned late Mohamed Bouchkhi, driver of Oran Former Bishop Pierre Claverie, killed together in Oran.
A minute of silence has been observed in memory of all the victims of the dark decade.
The religious service of this celebration was marked by the presence of Pope Francis envoy, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints.
Minister of Religious Affairs and Wakfs, Mohamed Aïssa, several ambassadors accredited to Algeria as well as foreign figures have attended the Beatification ceremony.

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