Monks killed in Algeria’s civil war of ’90s beatified

ALGIERS, Algeria — A cardinal dispatched by the Vatican to Algeria held an unusual beatification ceremony on Saturday for 19 monks, nuns and other Catholics who were killed during Algeria’s civil war in the 1990s.

It was the first such ceremony in the Muslim world, according to Algeria’s religious affairs minister. It came after Pope Francis recognized all 19 as martyrs in January, paving the way for Saturday’s ceremony in the western Algerian city of Oran. Beatification is a step in the process of being declared a saint.

Those honored included seven French Trappist monks who were abducted from the monastery of Tibhirine, south of Algiers, in 1996, and beheaded. A radical group was blamed, but some observers have suggested Algeria’s military was responsible.