From 1992 onward - after the Algerian Civil War broke out - the small Catholic Church which served foreign workers (for the most part) was threatened. There were those in Europe who advised Church officials to leave the nation so as to remain safe. Claverie refused to do so: even if he was never able to obtain Algerian citizenship he considered himself an Algerian and refused to leave a people to whom his life was linked. During the crisis he also refused to remain silent. Once he deemed it to be necessary, he did not hesitate to publicly criticize the two main opposing forces - the Islamic Salvation Front and the Algerian Government. In 1993 he predicted at a debate that there would be an inevitable trend of migration towards the north in Europe and that "the face of Europe is going to change".