Pope Leo XIV uses the word “communion” to describe the relationship between Christians and Muslims during his historic visit to Algeria. At the same time, almost all Protestant churches in the country have been closed by the authorities, and several pastors are imprisoned for “illegal worship”.
Leo XIV is the first pope to set foot on Algerian soil. Over three days, he marked a clear shift in the relationship with Islam.
He laid a wreath at Maqam Echahid, the memorial to those who fell in the war against France. The monument honours both Islamist and Marxist revolutionaries. The war resulted in approximately one million “pieds-noirs”, Algerian-born French Catholics, being expelled due to widespread massacres.
The Pope’s next stage was a visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers, the third largest in the world. The Pope removed his shoes and was led to the “mihrab”, which marks the direction of prayer towards Mecca. There he stood in silent reflection for at least one minute, side by side with the mosque’s director Mohamed Mamoun al Qasimi.
But it was when he spoke at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa that he made his most striking statements.
“a church of living stones, where ‘communion’ between Christians and Muslims takes shape under the mantle of Our Lady of Africa,” said the Pope.
Both the statements and his actions during the journey have provoked strong criticism from a number of different quarters.
Human Rights Watch and several other human rights organisations wrote an open letter to the Pope asking him to address religious freedom, or the lack thereof, in Algeria.
Although the visit took place on the 30th anniversary of the beheading of seven monks at the Tibhirine monastery in Algeria, he chose not to visit the monastery. Nor did he mention it.
Reactions have poured in on social media, primarily from Protestants.
Why is this true Pope? pic.twitter.com/CDS1h9r2Q0
— Bailey (@RealXBailey) April 13, 2026
Others have pointed to the severe penalties for converting to Christianity in Algeria, and how Christians are not permitted to hold services. If one evangelises among Muslims, or contributes to “weakening the faith” of a Muslim in Algeria, one risks up to five years’ imprisonment and fines equivalent to NOK 75,000.
It is especially evangelical Christians who are subjected to persecution, because they attempt to share the good news with Muslims in Algeria. This leads to prosecution, Islamist attacks on Christians, and a total lack of religious freedom.
According to Alliance Defending Freedom, 50 churches have been closed since 2017. Of 47 congregations in the Protestant Church of Algeria, only four remain open. Even Caritas Algeria, a Catholic aid organisation, was closed in 2022.
According to Open Doors, an organisation for persecuted Christians worldwide, Algeria is one of the worst countries in the world. In practice, there is no religious freedom in the country. Since the introduction of a law in March 2006, the authorities have not approved a single church. Christians are therefore forced to meet in private homes, which is strictly prohibited.
A prominent YouTuber named RedeemedZoomer, who has 700,000 followers, writes the following in response to the Pope’s tweet:
– Are you serious? Catholics are being martyred every day because of Islam. Spain did not spend 500 years reclaiming Christendom from the Islamic empire just for you to make statements like this.
Are you serious? Catholics are being martyred every day due to Islam. Spain did not spend 500 years reclaiming Christendom from the Islamic empires just for you to say stuff like this.
— Redeemed Zoomer (@redeemed_zoomer) April 13, 2026
This is not the first time this Pope has marked himself as sympathetic to Islam. During a visit to Lebanon, he stated that “Lebanon shows that Islam and Christianity can live together as friends”.
Algeria once had a community of more than one million Catholics. In 1965 this had been reduced to 100,000. In 1980, 45,000 remained, and today only 8,000 Catholics are left in the entire country.
Robert Spencer at Jihad Watch states the following about the visit:
Instead of standing up for local persecuted Christians or warning about the consequences of spreading the same kind of jihadist Islamisation into the heartlands of Europe, Pope Leo continues to treat fellow Christians such as President Trump as enemies, while embracing Islamic terror regimes as brothers.
The Pope also did not use the opportunity to mention that Pastor Ourahmane was recently sentenced to seven years in prison, nor that the same happened to the French journalist Christophe Gleizes.
Reporter Arthur Herlin writes on X that he asked the Pope about this matter, and that the Pope nodded in confirmation.