As Pope Léon XIV prepares to honor the martyrs of the 21st century in a solemn ecumenical ceremony, French paper Le Journal du Dimanche highlights a community suffering in near silence: the Christians of Kabylie, a region in northern Algeria where religious and political repression intersect.
While global attention often focuses on persecuted Christians in the Middle East, China, or sub-Saharan Africa, Kabylie’s Christians, mostly Protestant and Evangelical, are subjected to daily harassment, arrests, and intimidation, according to a detailed article by Le Journal du Dimanche.
Dozens of Kabyle Christians are currently facing legal action for “unauthorized worship,” a charge rooted in Algeria’s 2006 ordinance that criminalizes any act that could “shake the faith of a Muslim,” it said.
Even carrying a Bible or having a Christian name can be considered proselytism, punishable by imprisonment, the paper said.
But the persecution in Kabylie is not only religious, it is also ethno-political. The region is home to a strong Amazigh identity and a growing independence movement (MAK).
Supporters of Kabyle autonomy or cultural rights are frequently targeted by Algerian authorities, accused of threatening national unity.
The case of Slimane Bouhafs, a Kabyle Christian and activist, is emblematic. After being jailed in 2016 for Facebook posts deemed offensive to Islam, Bouhafs fled to Tunisia and was granted refugee status.
Yet in 2021, he was abducted by Algerian intelligence, returned to Algeria, and imprisoned again. This time under terrorism charges linked to his alleged ties with the MAK. He was released in 2024 but remains under surveillance and banned from leaving the country.
Meanwhile, 47 premises have been closed, many of them house churches, as authorities refuse to grant permits for new places of worship. The repression extends to everyday life: children denied schooling due to Christian names, families facing bureaucratic hurdles during burials, and armed raids on homes where worship takes place.
