“In Algeria, we are pastors of all, including Muslims”

Why did Leo XIV go to Algeria?

Here, many wonder why Algeria welcomes Pope Leo! That being said, I believe there are several explanations for this visit. First of all, it is a response to the invitation that I made to him directly on the very day of his election to the pontificate on May 8, 2025. In congratulating him, I pointed out to him that it was the liturgical memory of the martyrs of Algeria – including two of his sisters from the Augustinian religious family, Esther and Caridad. I therefore asked him to be the first pope to come to the country and he responded positively. A few days later, he expressed this desire to the Algerian ambassador to the Holy See.

The second explanation for this visit is the one he gave himself upon his return from Lebanon, where he expressed wanting to come to “continue building bridges between Christians and Muslims”. For this, the figure of Saint Augustine is a beautiful means.

Finally, Algeria is a large country in North Africa, on the Mediterranean rim, with numerous issues including interreligious relations.

Why did you want to hold a meeting of the Pope with the “Algerian community” in the Notre-Dame-d’Afrique basilica, rather than with the Catholic community?

Leo XIV comes to meet the people to whom the Catholic Church is sent. This one is essentially Muslim, but it is our people! We are called to be pastors of all, not just those who go to mass or are baptized. If he did not meet the people with whom we live, it would take away the meaning of his visit. It will therefore be a meeting with the Catholic community and its friends, therefore the vast majority of Muslim people.

More than interreligious dialogue, the specificity of our life here is this life together. All the priests, religious men and women present here have a mission with civil society and not only with Christians. This is essential for us, even if it is sometimes misunderstood, even within the Catholic world. We refuse to be among ourselves, we want to participate in building the world, together. This reality of being a small Christian people serving a much larger people is inscribed in the DNA of our Church of Algeria.

What is this Church of Algeria?

It is a Church in full change. After independence and for several decades, it was a Church of European religious people, who voluntarily remained at the service of a largely Muslim people. Some – the 19 martyrs – gave their lives for Algeria and these people.

Today, this situation is changing, particularly in large cities, including the capital. There, the presence of sub-Saharan students in particular is transforming the face of the community, with a greater number of lay people. But even if this Church changes, its reality does not change: it is in the midst of a Muslim people.