The Vatican has announced that as part of his upcoming African tour, Pope Leo XIV will visit Algeria 13–15 April.
Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming trip is a historic event. No acting pontiff has ever visited Algeria, a former stronghold of ancient Christianity whose current population of 48 million is about 99% Muslim.
2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the 1996 attack on an Algerian monastery in which seven monks were kidnapped and beheaded by an Islamic group. Today, religious freedom has significantly deteriorated in the country, particularly impacting Algeria’s roughly 156,000 Christians. Algeria is currently ranked as the 20th most oppressive nation for Christians by the human rights organization Open Doors.
