The White Fathers in Ghadames

Founded by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie in Algiers in 1868, the Society of the White Fathers established a brief presence in Ghadames and Tripoli from 1878 to 1881 as part of their plan to reach West Africa by crossing the Sahara, where, south of the vast arid wastes, they intended to continue their missionary work. In Ghadames, the small number of White Fathers eschewed overtly religious activity. Led by on Fr.Louis Richard, an experienced 32 years old veteran of the Algerian Sahara, three White Fathers set off for Ghat, 600 km to the south, on 18 December 1881, accompanied by five Touareg and Chaamba guides. At nightfall on the following day, the three clerics were assassinated by a group of Touaregs. Speculation surrounds the tragic event were the White Fathers seen as an advance guard of French penetration into the Sahara? Or did the merchants of Ghadames fear foreign competition of the trans-Saharan trade routes? There is no way to knowing. The remains of the victims were taken back to Europe, and their remains may be found in several receptacles in the crypt of the Generalate in Rome. Hard by is the tomb of Cardinal Lavigerie himself.