On the feast of Algeria’s martyrs, a new pope heard the invitation to visit Africa … and said yes. Next week Pope Leo XIV lands in Algiers, becoming the first pontiff to set foot in the land of St. Augustine. “Assalamu alaikum,” he will tell a Muslim nation: “Peace be with you.” And Algeria just might answer back.
During the upcoming journey Pope Leo will visit four countries and 11 cities, traveling more than 17,702 km (11,000 miles) on 18 flights. The itinerary begins in Algeria and continues through Central and Southern Africa. In Algeria, the visit is centered on friendship and shared life in the Muslim-majority country. Leading the local Church is Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, a French-born Dominican friar and Archbishop of Algiers, who is eager to welcome the pope.
“It was a dream for a very long time,” Vesco says. He first invited Pope Francis, but for various reasons, including the pontiff’s failing health, the visit never materialized. Then, on the day Leo was elected pope (May 8, the feast day of Algeria’s 19 martyrs) Vesco told the new pontiff, “You have to be the first pope to come.” Leo knew the story well, especially the two Augustinian nuns among the martyrs. “I am very happy,” Vesco adds. “It is a great sign for our local church…but it’s a great sign for the country.”
Simple encounters and shared spaces
The pope will begin in Algeria with a courtesy call on President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at El Mouradia Palace. He will then visit the massive Great Mosque of Algiers, one of the world’s largest, where Cardinal Vesco joins the welcome.
Later, high above the sea, at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa at a gathering which is open to both Christians and Muslims, Vesco will greet the Holy Father accompanying local children offering flowers. The gathering will include songs, testimonies (including from a Muslim woman), and an address from the pope.
Vesco explains the deeper meaning: “Why would a Christian leader come to a Muslim country? A brother wants to be welcomed as a brother by his Muslim brothers.” He stresses it’s not a grand interfaith show but a testimony of life-sharing. “That’s what we want to show to the world, the cardinal said. “We are a church and our people share life together. We are not closed or sectarian.”
In St. Augustine’s footsteps
The Pope will then fly to Annaba (ancient Hippo), where St. Augustine was bishop. He will walk among the Roman ruins of the city, lay a wreath, and pray. Vesco is especially looking forward to this: “He will put his feet in the footsteps of Augustine.”
After visiting the Little Sisters of the Poor, who care for elderly Algerians, mostly Muslims, the Pope will celebrate Mass in the Basilica of St. Augustine for about 1,500 people.
While young people in France, Italy and the United States may know little about the 5th-century theologian beyond his name, residents of this Muslim-majority country still honor and take pride in him some 15 centuries after his death. “This is a bridge,” Vesco said. “Augustine is a bridge. And the pope will be a bridge.” Cardinal Vesco notes that at his election Leo called himself “a son of Augustine,” which in Algeria means “he belongs here.” Augustine and Pope Leo, he says, will link the country’s Christian past to its Muslim present.
A benediction for all in Algeria
For Vesco, the trip is “a blessing… a free encounter.” The leader of Catholic Algeria emphasized there is no cost, no agenda, nothing political at stake. He hopes the visit will help to slowly change minds: “Maybe the mentality of our fellow Algerians could change. They may come to see that Christianity is good for our country.”
Cardinal Vesco is especially eager for the pope’s words at a monument to independence, surrounded by a largely Muslim crowd. Some 5,000 are expected to attend. Vesco is also looking forward to the meeting with government leaders. “The civil authorities are very involved in the visit,” he said. “They have been very generous.”
For now security is calm, but with global tensions, the visit’s simple motto — “Assalamu alaikum” (Peace be with you, drawn from Pope Leo’s first words on the loggia) — feels more powerful than ever. “Today the pope is the only man of peace on the world scene,” Vesco says.
In the end, this is no revolution, but a quiet step forward. “The people will be happy,” Vesco believes. “They have a special sensibility…and if they see him, they will trust him,” declared Vesco. “They will love the pope.”
For Algeria’s small Church and its Muslim neighbors, that’s more than enough.
