By Courtney Mares, OSV News
ALGIERS (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV arrived in Algeria on the morning of April 13, becoming the first pope to make an apostolic journey to the North Africa nation, the first stop of the pope’s 11-day, four-country tour of Africa.
Speaking to journalists on the flight to Algiers, Pope Leo revealed that his trip to Africa was “meant to be the first trip of the pontificate.”
“Already last year, in May, I said, ‘On my first trip, I would like to travel to Africa,'” Pope Leo said on the papal plane, a chartered ITA Airways flight.
“I am very happy to visit the land of St. Augustine again,” he added, saying that Augustine “offers a very important bridge in interreligious dialogue” and “is much loved in his homeland, as we will see.”
The pope emphasized, “We must always seek bridges to build peace and reconciliation. And so, this trip truly represents a precious opportunity to continue with the same voice, with the same message.”
Calling the trip “very special for several reasons,” the pope said it is “a blessing for me personally,” expressing hope that the visit will also be a blessing “for the Church and the world.”
During the flight, Pope Leo also responded to a personal attack made by President Donald Trump on social media the night before, telling journalists, “I have no fear of the Trump administration or speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the Church is here to do.”
The papal plane touched down at Houari Boumediene Airport in Algiers shortly before 10 a.m. local time following a two-hour flight from Rome. Since heavy rain was in the forecast, the welcoming ceremony in Algeria’s capital city was moved indoors.
The pope was greeted by Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune as an honor guard stood at attention and a young girl presented the pope with flowers.
The pope’s visit to Algeria marks a historic milestone in a country that is 99% Sunni Muslim and home to fewer than 9,000 Catholics among a population of more than 45 million people. Algerian bishops said the pope comes “as an apostle of peace,” seeking to strengthen a Church whose mission is one of “fraternal presence” in a predominantly Muslim society.
From April 13 to 23, the 70-year-old pope is scheduled to travel a total of 11,000 miles on 18 flights, visiting 11 cities across Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. The American pope is expected to deliver addresses in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. In Algeria he will speak primarily in English.
Algeria, the largest country in Africa, is dominated by the vast Sahara Desert, yet the pope’s itinerary here is centered on the country’s northern Mediterranean coast, with stops in Algiers and Annaba.
The ‘Son of Augustine’ returns
The visit carries particular significance for Pope Leo, who described himself as a “son of Augustine” on the day of his election on May 8, 2025. St. Augustine, served as bishop of Hippo Regius, near the present-day Algerian city of Annaba, and died there in A.D. 430. The pope first visited Algeria in 2003 when he was serving as prior general of the Augustinian order and returned again in 2014.
“The Holy Father has already visited Algeria twice,” Bishop Michel Guillaud of Constantine-Hippone told OSV News.
Pope Leo’s apostolic visit to Algeria, he added, is primarily “to meet the Algerian people and to support his Church, drawing on the strong bond between them through the figure of Augustine.”
Remembering Algeria’s Catholic martyrs
In addition to St. Augustine and St. Monica, Algeria is also known as the site of more modern witnesses to the faith. In 2018, the Church beatified 19 martyrs killed during the Algerian Civil War, including Trappist monks whose story was depicted in the film Of Gods and Men.
On his first day in Algeria, Pope Leo will make a private visit to the Augustinian Missionary Sisters of Bab El Oued, honoring the memory of two of their members, Sister Esther Paniagua Alonso and Sister Caridad Álvarez Martín, who were killed in 1994 while on their way to Mass. The two sisters were among the 19 martyrs beatified in 2018. Today the Augustinian sisters continue to serve the local population through education and outreach programs for children, youth and women.
Another beloved Catholic figure linked to Algeria is St. Charles de Foucauld, the French hermit and missionary who lived among the Tuareg people in the Sahara and was canonized in 2022 by Pope Francis.
Interfaith dialogue in a majority-Muslim nation
After the airport welcome, the pope’s first public engagement is at the Maqam Echahid Memorial, honoring those who died in the country’s struggle for independence from France.
On his first day in Algiers, Pope Leo is also scheduled to meet civil authorities and visit the Great Mosque of Algiers, one of the largest mosques in the world, in a gesture aimed at reinforcing Christian-Muslim dialogue.
In the evening, the pope is expected to meet with local Christians at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, perched above the Mediterranean Sea.
Algeria’s history stretches from its role as a breadbasket of the Roman Empire to centuries under Arab-Amazigh dynasties and Ottoman rule, followed by French colonization beginning in 1830, which ended after a brutal war of independence from 1954 to 1962.
Bishop Guillaud said the visit sends a clear message that Christianity “is an asset and not a danger” to Algerian society. “Algerians know that popes are not only concerned with their flock, but also with peace, justice and reconciliation for all,” he said.
On April 14, the pope is scheduled to fly to the northeastern port city of Annaba, near the ruins of ancient Hippo Regius, to pray at the site where St. Augustine spent the final years of his life.
Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.
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