On Algeria’s sparkling Mediterranean coast, the city of Annaba is teeming with excitement as the one-time home of Saint Augustine readies for the country’s first visit by a Catholic pontiff. Source: The Australian.
For the city’s small Christian community, Pope Leo XIV’s visit is a powerful nod of recognition, and at the Basilica of Saint Augustine, preparations are well underway, overseen by rector Fr Fred Wekesa.
Municipal workers, aided by members of the Order of Saint Augustine, are hard at work repainting the walls and polishing the statues ahead of the Pope’s visit to Algeria from April 13 to 15.
Elected in May last year, Pope Leo, an Augustinian, in his first speech loudly proclaimed his affinity for Saint Augustine, describing himself as a “son” of the famed theologian.
Augustine was born in 354 in the ancient city of Thagaste, now known as Souk Ahras, about 100 kilometres south of Annaba — which lies atop the ancient Roman city of Hippo.
He would become the bishop of Hippo in 395, and it was there that he wrote his famous Confessions, before dying in 430.
For Fr Wekesa, Pope Leo’s arrival will be “a great joy”.
“He is the first pope to have thought of us and of coming to visit us. It is therefore a deeply significant moment,” he added.
“We are what I call a ‘small flock’, a minority. But that does not mean we are forgotten,” he said. “On the contrary … the Pope’s presence supports us as a minority. It carries a message of encouragement and solidarity.”
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In Algeria, Saint Augustine’s city anticipates Pope Leo’s visit (The Australian)
