The visit by Pope Leo XIV to Algeria, at the invitation of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, served as a “very beautiful opportunity to continue building bridges and promoting dialogue,” the Sovereign Pontiff said on Wednesday, expressing his gratitude to the Algerian authorities who “made this visit possible.” During the flight from Algiers to Yaoundé in Cameroon, the second leg of his African tour, Pope Leo XIV told journalists accompanying him on the apostolic journey that the first days in Algeria were “a very beautiful opportunity to continue building bridges and promoting dialogue.”
For Pope Leo XIV, who described himself as a “son of Saint Augustine,” his visit to Algeria, particularly to Annaba, was a special occasion to “seek unity among all peoples and mutual respect despite differences.” This message was one he sought to embody during his visit to Algeria, especially during the significant visit to Djamaa El Djazaïr, stating that “even if we have different beliefs, different ways of praying and living, we can nevertheless live together in peace.” “Promoting this image is something the world needs today, and something we can continue to offer together through our testimony as we continue this apostolic journey,” he added.
Commenting on the “special visits” made to the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa in Algiers and the Basilica of Saint Augustine in Annaba, on the hill overlooking the modern city as well as the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Hippo, the Supreme Pontiff said they carried “a strong symbolic value.”
The Pope recalled that Saint Augustine, who was bishop of Hippo for over 30 years, “is a figure from the past who speaks to us of tradition, who speaks to us of the life of the Church during the first centuries of its development,” and at the same time remains an “extremely important figure even today.” Pope Leo XIV further expressed his gratitude to the Algerian authorities, who “made this visit possible” by providing an escort during the overflight of Algerian airspace, adding that this was “a sign of kindness, generosity and the respect that the Algerian people and government wished to show to the Holy See and to me.”
