The heroic sacrifice of Colonel Arnaud Beltrame in the face of terrorism

Carcassonne leaves in the east by Avenue du Général-Leclerc. This artery, which is also the national road 113, makes it possible to contemplate with hindsight the medieval city of the Aude prefecture. This is the journey that on Friday, March 23, 2018 in the morning, Redouane Lakdim, a 25-year-old Franco-Moroccan, driving an Opel Corsa stolen from his two occupants.

Killing one, seriously hurting the other. Five kilometers further, he arrives in view of Trèbes, a village nestled between the Aude and the Canal du Midi. He does not enter it and stops in a Super U store. It is 11:15 am.

A deadly hostage taking

Delinquant monitored by the Directorate General of Internal Security (DGSI), “Fiche S”, of Muslim confession, Redouane Lakdim had joined the jihadist theses, as demonstrated by propaganda later seized with his home, in the city of Ozanam, a popular district of Carcassonne. Before arriving in Trèbes, he looked at the local garrison, the 3rd regiment of marine infantry parachutists (RPIMA). Then in front of a CRS barracks, where he shoots police.

At the Super U, he murdered two people and hurts several. Negotiations are committed. A lieutenant-colonel of gendarmerie offers to take the place of a cashier, mother of 40, retained hostage. It is thus saved. Redouane Lakdim is shot down around 2:20 p.m. by the police, after having stabbed and riddled the gendarmerie officer. The latter is transported to the hospital in Carcassonne, where he succumbs to his injuries in the night.

France then discovered the identity of this exceptional gendarme, Arnaud Beltrame. Two days later, during the branches celebrated in the parish church of Trèbes, the bishop of Carcassonne and Narbonne, Mgr Alain Planet, sees it as an announcement of passion: “Friday, a man replaced a victim to give his life”.

On the road to Lagrasse

However, you have to leave Trèbes to understand who Arnaud Beltrame was. We descend due south to the Sainte-Marie de Lagrasse abbey. This former Benedictine monastery of the 8th century has housed the regular canons of the Mother of God since 2004, a religious community according to the rule of Saint Augustine. This is where Lieutenant-Colonel went to Sunday mass, with his wife Marielle. “The Lagrasse abbey marvelously radiates the Catholic faith in our region, through many sessions and the reception of a very diverse audience”, attests to Elisabeth Doutrebente, director of the private school outside the Providence, in Carcassonne. Father Jean Baptiste, canon of the abbey, who accompanied him spiritually, as well as his wife Marielle.

Because Arnaud Beltrame was a convert. Called in a non-practicing family, he had experienced a personal meeting with Christ in 2008. The same year of his initiation within Freemasonry, according to a press release from the Grand Lodge of France, while such belonging is defended by the Church. “Mystery of a Christian life on the move”, summarizes Father Christian Venard, chaplain of gendarmerie, in the weekly life. The road to Lagrasse Abbey could symbolize spiritual life: winding, tight, trying. But bordered by splendid landscapes. It makes us cross several villages, such as that of Pradelles-en-Val, where, under the plane trees, a hairy of the Great War at the top of the war memorial.

How not to think of Arnaud Beltrame? “It seems to me that only his faith can explain the madness of this sacrifice which today makes the admiration of all,” wrote Father Jean-Baptiste, in a testimony made public on Saturday. “He knew that, if his life began to belong to Marielle, she was also to God, to France, to her brothers in danger of death. I believe that only a Christian faith animated by charity could ask him for this superhuman sacrifice, ”concludes the canon.

We finally arrive in Lagrasse. It is a haven of peace, silence, beauty. Next to the small medieval stone city, the abbey welcomes the visitor. No need to stay for a very long time to grasp the spirituality of the place. No need to ask fathers of details on the life of Arnaud Beltrame. Their eyes express the essentials. “Jesus, having looked at him, loved him,” he written in the Gospel of Marc. It is enough to exchange a few words to understand that the officer was loved by the community. Arnaud Beltrame received the sacrament of the sick on his deathbed, from the hands of Father Jean-Baptiste. Having accomplished their mission, the canons fade. “Arnaud” does not belong to them.

“A hero”

Indeed, France immediately seized him. Hasan, Muslim coffee maker of Trèbes, and some of his customers, qualify him with the same words used by Damien Beltrame, the brother of Lieutenant-Colonel: “A man of heart”. On the political scene, all praise his courage, his dedication, his patriotism. Regardless of the cleavages.

“We have the inexpressible feeling that this man saved us,” said François-Xavier Bellamy, deputy mayor of Versailles, personality of the intellectual right. “Terrible honor: give your life for your mission to the service of others. Beltrame, hero of the human condition ”, judges Jean-Luc Mélenchon, tribune of rebellious France.

A national tribute wanted by the President of the Republic took place at the Invalides, on March 28, 2018. This ceremony does not remove anger. In Trèbes, some are tempted to cry revenge. “We must send back all foreign criminals home, and punish those who are here,” claims a regular at the Aude cafe on Sunday morning. “Otherwise, there will be people who will do justice themselves with rifles,” he roared, designating the city of the needle, on the other side of the river. Another district where insecurity and violence are daily. “Already, in 2016, we had a first alert, when individuals asked our schoolchildren on the street if they were Jewish … The media will only pass in Carcassonne and Trèbes. Our problems, they will remain, ”fears, lucid, teacher Elisabeth Doutrebente.

“Pain embraces us. We come up against the cold reality of death, heavier than the stone of the tomb. Addressing himself in his homily to the families of the victims and the employees of the super U, standing for lack of space, in tears, Mgr Alain Planet did not shirk. “Dare I invite you to look further?” “, He delicately added. Under the vaults of the Saint-Etienne church in Trèbes, a great diversity of Catholics mix, and Imams of Carcassonne who came to demonstrate their solidarity. The crowd aspires to lucidity, but also to living fraternity, both personified by Arnaud Beltrame. Looked at him further than his own life.