ALGIERS (OSV News): Pope Leo XIV honoured the memory of Algeria’s Christian martyrs on the evening of April 13, telling the country’s small Catholic community that the blood of those who died for their faith remains “a living seed that never ceases to bear fruit.”
Arriving that morning, Pope Leo became the first pontiff to visit Algeria, marking the start of his 11-day, four-country tour of Africa which will also take him to Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea, through April 23.
Speaking inside the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, a 19th-century church perched on a promontory overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Algiers, the pope praised the 19 men and women religious beatified in 2018 who were killed during the Algerian Civil War of the 1990s.
“It is precisely love for their brothers and sisters that inspired the witness of the martyrs we have commemorated,” the pope said. “In the face of hatred and violence, they remained faithful to charity even to the point of sacrificing themselves alongside many other men and women, Christians and Muslims.”
The visit marked a milestone for Algeria, where Catholics number fewer than 9,000 in a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of over 45 million. Pope Leo described the Church’s role as a “discrete and precious presence.”
Before arriving at the basilica, the pope visited the Great Mosque of Algiers. “Through this place of prayer, through the search for truth, including through study and through the ability to recognise the dignity of every human being, we know—and today’s gathering is proof of this—that we can learn to respect one another, live in harmony and build a world of peace,” he remarked.
Inside the basilica, Pope Leo sat under the apse mosaic with a French inscription that translates, “Our Lady of Africa, pray for us and for the Muslims.”
Jean-Paul Cardinal Vesco, archbishop of Algiers, noted that most visitors to the basilica are Muslim.
“’Madame l’Afrique,’ as she is often called here, is inscribed in the heritage of Algeria and in the hearts of Algerians,” the cardinal said. “The inscription that welcomes them, ‘pray for us and for the Muslims,’ expresses Mary’s maternal vocation for all humanity, and the vocation of this basilica, which hosts so many cultural and religious events, and gathers so many confidences and moments of intimate prayer.”
Pope Leo added, “This very basilica is a sign of our desire for peace and unity.”
He said, “It symbolises a Church of living stones, where communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape under the mantle of Our Lady of Africa.”
Many waited outside in heavy rain as the basilica was filled to capacity.
Father Jean Fernandes Costa, rector of the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, described the local Catholic Church as small and “highly diverse in terms of nationalities and cultures.” He called the community “a sign of the Church’s universality in a non-Christian society.”
He has served in Algeria for seven years and is not only as the cathedral’s parish priest, but also chaplain to university students from sub-Saharan Africa.
“It is a very unique situation, as we are embedded in a predominantly Muslim society and must constantly adapt to this reality,” said the priest, a Brazilian member of the Shalom Catholic Community. “Dialogue with Algerian society has developed gradually through welcoming visitors to our small churches and through our service to the poorest.”
In the face of hatred and violence, they remained faithful to charity even to the point of sacrificing themselves alongside many other men and women, Christians and Muslims
Pope Leo
Father Fernandes said the papal trip is “a great gift from God for this small Church, which never imagined a papal visit so early in his pontificate and at the start of his apostolic journey to Africa. It is also a sign of hope for the future of this small community.”
Pope Leo highlighted Algeria’s ancient and modern witnesses to faith, referencing St. Augustine, St. Charles de Foucauld, and Brother Luc of Tibhirine, whose story inspired the film, “Of Gods and Men.”
Before his martyrdom, Brother Luc, when offered a chance to flee, replied: “I want to stay with them.”
Earlier, the pope visited the Augustinian Missionary Sisters of Bab El Oued, honouring two members killed in 1994 on their way to Mass. Both were among the 19 martyrs beatified in 2018. Their congregation continues serving the local population through education and outreach.
After his address, Pope Leo prayed in a side chapel dedicated to St. Monica, which contained the cross from the Tibhirine monastery and an icon of the Algerian martyrs. He lit a candle in prayer.
In his message to the local Catholic community, Pope Leo reflected on Algeria’s geography as a spiritual metaphor, pointing to the vast Sahara Desert.
“In the desert, no one can survive alone,” he said. “The hostile environment dispels any presumptions of self-sufficiency, reminding us that we need one another, and that we need God.”
The meeting in the basilica was the pope’s last public event of the day before returning to the apostolic nunciature, where he was to meet privately with Algeria’s bishops.
On April 14, the pope travelled to Annaba and the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Hippo, where he celebrated Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine, near where the saint died nearly 1,600 years ago
