In the introduction to a book of his speeches, The Power of the Gospel: Christian Faith in 10 Words, the Pope refers to one of the monks martyred in Algeria in 1996.
In an introduction to his book 'The Power of the Gospel: Christian Faith in 10 Words,' the pope refers to one of the monks martyred in Algeria in 1996.
The beatification of the Algerian martyrs — of Of Gods and Men fame — on December 8, 2018, was historic because it was the first time the Church beatified martyrs in a Muslim country.
"The desire for communion, recognizing that we are brothers and sisters, is the antidote to all extremism," writes Pope Leo XIV in the preface to the book titled The Power of the Gospel: Christian Faith in 10 Words, a collection of some of his speeches published in Italy on November 20, 2025, by the Vatican Publishing House.
In the preface, which was recently published by Vatican News, the Pope starts by referencing three of the 10 words mentioned in the title. He explains that Christ came to seek us and to unite us in himself, and that through his grace we can find peace.
To illustrate this point, he draws on the figure of Father Christian de Chergé, prior of the Cistercian Trappist monastery of Tibhirine, who was kidnapped and killed with six of his companions in early 1996.
Arguing that “non-violence can destroy the abuse of power” and that “love defeats war,” the head of the Catholic Church quotes a reflection written by the French monk a few weeks before his death.
“Disarm me”
On Christmas Eve, 1995, armed men entered the monastery and the monks experienced “a close encounter with terrorists.”
The Pope recounts what happened next: “Asking himself which prayer he could address to the Lord after such a difficult trial, speaking of those who had violently invaded the monastery, he wrote the following: ‘Do I have the right to ask, "disarm him," if I do not begin by asking: "Disarm me and disarm us in the community? Now this is my prayer which I confide to you in all simplicity."’”
Father Christian de Chergé was assassinated a few weeks later. The monks of Tibhirine and 12 other martyrs of Algeria were beatified in Oran in 2018.
Pope Leo XIV's reflection and the borrowing of the French monk's quotation echo the first words spoken by the Pontiff after his election on May 8. Appearing for the first time before the crowd from the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, the new pope said, “Peace be with you! It is the peace of the risen Christ, a peace that is disarmed and disarming, humble and persevering.”
He has spoken of an education that is disarming.
With an education for peace that is disarmed and disarming. It is not enough, in fact, to silence weapons: we must disarm hearts, renouncing all violence and vulgarity. In this way, a disarming and disarmed education creates equality and growth for all, recognizing the equal dignity of every young person,
Pope Francis also spoke often of disarmament, not just of weapons, but beyond arms, to hearts:
We must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth. There is a great need for reflection, calmness, and an awareness of complexity.
Leo XIV has already been to Algeria
A former prior of the Augustinian Order, Pope Leo XIV has been to Algeria, the land of St. Augustine (354-430). In fact, he may again visit soon, now as pope.
In the preface, the Pope quotes the Bishop of Hippo: “Let our lives be good, and the times will be good. It is we who make the times.”
Before being elected pope, Robert Francis Prevost visited Algeria twice. First, he went in 2001 for a symposium on St. Augustine, and then in 2013 for the inauguration of the restored Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba.
On that occasion, he went to Bab El Oued, where Sister Esther and Sister Caridad, two Augustinian nuns, were murdered in 1994. They’re among the 19 blessed martyrs of Algeria.
In Algiers, he also visited the library of the Casbah where the first two blessed martyrs of Algeria, Sister Paul-Hélène and Brother Henri Vergès, were killed on May 8, 1994.
At the end of the last conclave, Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco pointed out to the new Pope Leo XIV the coincidence of the dates between the day of the death of the first martyrs of Algeria and that of his election, May 8. “The two Augustinian martyrs and the others are very much present in his personal memory,” the Franco-Algerian archbishop told us this summer.
