Pope Leo XIV honoured the memory of Algeria’s Christian martyrs last night, telling the country’s tiny Catholic community that the blood of those who died for their faith remains “a living seed that never ceases to bear fruit”. Source: OSV News.
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 marks a remarkable moment for the North African country in which Catholics number fewer than 9000 in a predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of more than 45 million people. Pope Leo described the Church’s role in Algeria as a “discrete and precious presence.”
Prior to his arrival 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 spontaneously in Italian.
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.”
In his speech inside the basilica, Pope Leo, also speaking in French, said, “This very basilica is a sign of our desire for peace and unity.”
“It symbolises a Church of living stones, where communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape under the mantle of Our Lady of Africa,” he said.
Today, the Pope is scheduled to travel to Annaba and the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Hippo, where he will celebrate Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine.
The Algeria leg of his journey is the first stop on an ambitious 18-flight, 18,000-kilometre papal trip through four African nations, Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, that runs until April 23.
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Pope Leo praises witness of Algeria’s Christian martyrs at meeting with local Catholics (By Courtney Mares, OSV News)
