A papal visit to Algeria aimed at promoting interfaith dialogue and reconciliation unfolded against two powerful and contrasting backdrops: renewed concerns over terrorist attacks and mounting criticism from rights groups over the treatment of the country’s Christian minority.
A visit the authoritarian regime in Algeria hoped to use for whitewashing purposes has unveiled to the world the enduring black decade legacy or a brutal civil war that led to the sprouting of terrorist groups in vast swathes of Algeria and the Sahel.
Algeria, which ironically claims to have defeated terrorist groups, has in recent years continued to face sporadic militant incidents, particularly in remote areas. The strategy of the regime was to force these groups to export their activities in the Sahel, where most Al Qeda and ISIS linked groups have been founded by Algerian nationals battle hardened during the 1990s black decade.
At the same time, multiple rights organizations have urged Pope Leo XIV to use his visit to denounce ongoing restrictions on Christian communities. In a joint appeal, Human Rights Watch, MENA Rights, and EuroMed Rights called on the pontiff “to raise cases of church closures, prosecutions of Christians for ‘unauthorized worship,’ and the removal of constitutional protections for freedom of conscience”.
Similarly, the European Centre for Law and Justice, working alongside Christian Solidarity International and the Jubilee Campaign, highlighted “a systematic pattern of legal and administrative repression against Christians … where churches have been shuttered, visas denied to clergy and worship forced into private homes,” warning that symbolic engagement “without accountability” risks being used to whitewash the real situation.
These groups documented more than 40 Protestant churches closed since 2017, prosecutions over unauthorized worship, and legal obstacles for converts from Islam. Caritas Algeria, a Catholic aid agency, was officially closed in 2022 — steps critics say confirm a harsher environment for religious minorities.
During the visit, the pope did not condemn or express solidarity with the oppressed Christians in the country but he addressed the legacy of Algeria’s 1990s civil war by paying tribute to 19 Christian men and women killed during the conflict.
Speaking at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, he said their sacrifice remained a “living testimony” to faith and coexistence, honoring victims of the violence without directly referring to current allegations of restrictions on Christian worship.
