Aboard the papal plane bound for Cameroon, Pope Leo XIV reflects on his Apostolic Journey to Algeria, calling it a “special blessing for me personally” and a “wonderful opportunity to continue to build bridges and promote dialogue.”
By Devin Watkins As he flew on Wednesday from Algiers to Yaoundé, Pope Leo XIV offered the 70-odd reporters traveling with him aboard the papal plane his thoughts on his just-concluded Apostolic Journey to Algeria. He opened by expressing his gratitude to the Algerian civil authorities for their warm welcome and the honor they bestowed on the Holy See. The Pope said the military escort afforded the papal plane in Algerian airspace is a “sign of the goodness, of the generosity, of the respect that the Algerian people and the Algerian government have wished to show to the Holy See, to myself.” He also thanked the “very small but very significant” presence of the Catholic Church in Algeria for their welcome. Recalling his visits to the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa in Algiers and the Basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba, Pope Leo upheld the legacy of the 5th-century St. Augustine. “He is still a very important figure today,” said the Pope, “as his writings, his teaching, his spirituality, his invitation to search for God and to search for truth is something that is very much needed today, a message that is very real for all of us today, as believers in Jesus Christ, but also for all people.” Even though the vast majority of Algerians are not Catholic, many of them “very much honor and respect the memory of St. Augustine as one of the great sons of their land,” he said. “It was a special blessing for me personally to return once again to Annaba yesterday,” said Pope Leo, “but also to offer to the Church and the world a vision that St. Augustine offers us in terms of that search for God and the struggle to build community, to seek for unity among all peoples and a respect for all peoples in spite of the differences.” Pope Leo XIV said Algerian Christians offer a profound witness of how to live in peace with their Muslim brothers and sisters, despite any cultural or religious differences. “In two days in Algeria, we've really had a wonderful opportunity to continue to build bridges, to promote dialogue,” he concluded. “I think the visit to the mosque was significant and to say that although we have different beliefs, we have different ways of worshiping, we have different ways of living, we can live together in peace.”