https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algeria-pope-calls-authorities-not-dominate-serve-people" rel="bookmark">
In Algeria, Pope calls on authorities ‘not to dominate, but serve the people’
On the first day of his https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algeria-pope-homage-forgotten-home-christian-icon-augustine">historic visit to https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/algeria">Algeria on Monday, Pope Leo XIV mixed the spiritual with the political, urging local authorities to liberalise the country's political life and world leaders to abandon “neo-colonial” practices and work for peace.
The https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us">American has become the first pontiff to make a papal visit to the https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/maghreb">North African country, which is the birthplace of Saint Augustine, the ancient Christian thinker who gave his name to the religious order from which the current head of the Catholic Church originates.
The visit to Algeria was somewhat overshadowed by a high-profile feud with US President Donald Trump over the pontiff's opposition to the https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/war-on-iran">war on Iran and a failed suicide bombing near Algiers.
In the capital, where he was received with full honours, the Pope first prayed at the Martyrs' Monument, a tribute to the victims of the bloody war of independence against https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/france">France from 1954 to 1962.
There, alluding to the https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algeria-france-diplomatic-spat-escalates-officials-ordered-leave">diplomatic crises that continue to plague French-Algerian relations, he declared that peace "is only possible through forgiveness".
"The true struggle for liberation will only be definitively won when peace of hearts has been achieved," he said.
In a subsequent speech delivered before an audience of Algerian officials, including President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and the diplomatic corps, he then called on the authorities to allow the democratisation of Algeria.
"The true strength of a country lies in the cooperation of everyone in achieving the common good.
The authorities are called upon not to dominate, but to serve the people and their development," he said.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algeria-pope-homage-forgotten-home-christian-icon-augustine">
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algeria-pope-homage-forgotten-home-christian-icon-augustine">Read More »
“I therefore urge those of you who hold authority in this country not to fear this prospect and to promote a vibrant, dynamic and free civil society, in which young people, in particular, are recognised as having the capacity to contribute to broadening the horizon of hope for all.”
Since the Hirak, the pro-democracy movement that led to the resignation of longtime autocrat Abdelaziz Bouteflika in 2019, Algerian authorities have been https://www.amnesty.org/fr/location/middle-east-and-north-africa/north-africa/algeria/report-algeria/#:~:text=Alg%C3%A9rie%202024,r%C3%A9union%20pacifique%20et%20d'association.">accused by rights defenders of https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/algerian-hirak-poet-activist-facing-death-sentence-begins-hunger-strike">repressing all forms of opposition by arresting, detaining and sentencing activists, journalists and critics.
A few days before the Pope’s visit, three international NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, called on him to raise issues of human rights and religious freedom with the Algerian authorities.
In his speech in Algiers, the Pope also https://www.france24.com/fr/afrique/20260413-au-premier-jour-de-sa-visite-en-alg%C3%A9rie-l%C3%A9on-xiv-d%C3%A9nonce-les-tendances-n%C3%A9ocoloniales">condemned "ongoing violations of international law and neo-colonial tendencies", in an implicit message to the United States.
The US-born head of the Catholic church has been the subject of intense criticism from Trump in recent days because of his increasingly vocal stance against the US-https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel">Israeli war on https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/iran">Iran.
After saying on Sunday he is “not a fan of Pope Leo” and does not like "a Pope that’s going to say that it’s OK to have a nuclear weapon", Trump doubled down on Monday, refusing to apologise and accusing him of being "weak".
On the plane from Rome to Algiers, the American pontiff told journalists that he had "no intention of entering into a debate" with Trump and that he was not "afraid" of his administration.
"The Church has a moral duty to speak out very clearly against war," the Pope said.
"I don't think the message of the Gospel should be distorted as some are doing."
Failed attack in neighbouring Blida
The Pope's visit on Monday also coincided with a failed double https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2026/04/14/le-premier-jour-de-la-visite-du-pape-en-algerie-marque-par-une-tentative-d-attentat-dans-les-environs-d-alger_6679763_3212.html">suicide attack in the neighbouring city of Blida, 50km south of Algiers, the first such attack in the country since 2012.
The assailants died when detonating their explosives, one in front of the central police station and the other about 500 metres away.
In total, four other bombs were reportedly defused, all targeting police officers and public places, while several people have reportedly been injured.
Algerian authorities have not yet commented on these events.
Experts https://www.jeuneafrique.com/1788023/politique/en-algerie-la-visite-du-pape-bousculee-par-un-attentat-a-blida/">believe that the large security presence in the capital likely prompted the perpetrators to stage their attack in the neighbouring city.
The Pope's visit continued on Tuesday, with a stop in the city of Annaba, ancient Hippo, where Saint Augustine was bishop.
On Monday, President Tebboune told the Pope about Algeria's "immense pride" in being able to "draw upon the imperishable legacy" of the Christian thinker, "your spiritual father and one of the most luminous minds in the history of human thought".
In Algeria, where Sunni Islam is the state religion, Catholics make up fewer than 0.01 percent of the population, and consist of mainly Europeans and sub-Saharan students.
The Algerian president also praised the Pope's "courageous stance […] in the face of the tragedy in Gaza", in reference to the Israeli https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza">genocidal war against the https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine">Palestinian enclave, and "the many sufferings that have afflicted the Gulf region".
On Wednesday, the Pope will leave Algiers for Cameroon, continuing his first African trip, which will also take him to Angola and Equatorial Guinea until 23 April.