Our Editorial Director reflects on Pope Leo XIV’s first words after he lands on Algerian soil, which is an appeal for mutual forgiveness as the key to building the future.
By Andrea Tornielli The Successor of Peter has returned to Africa. Three years after the visit made at the beginning of 2023 by Pope Francis to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan, Pope Leo XIV has begun a long pilgrimage across the African continent, bringing him on Monday to Algeria and in the coming days to Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. It is an 11-day journey with a distinctly missionary character, marked by an intense schedule of encounters with the peoples of a continent that is undermined by problems and contradictions, yet is also a reservoir of joy and hope. It is impossible to forget the “dramatic hour of history” in which this visit takes place, amid growing concern over what is happening in the Middle East and the threat of a further escalation of conflict following the failure of negotiations between the United States and Iran. It was therefore significant that peace emerged as the central theme in Pope Leo XIV’s first address in Algeria, during his visit to the Martyrs’ Memorial (Maqam Echahid): “In this place, let us remember that God desires peace for every nation: a peace that is not merely an absence of conflict, but one that is an expression of justice and dignity. This peace, which allows us to face the future with a reconciled spirit, is possible only through forgiveness. The true struggle for liberation will be definitively won only when peace in our hearts has finally been achieved.” The appeal to forgiveness and to peace of heart is imbued with a profound realism. It not only belongs to the very essence of the Christian message, but also represents the only viable path for building the future. “I know how difficult it is to forgive,” the Pope said. “However, as conflicts continue to multiply throughout the world, we cannot add resentment upon resentment, generation after generation.” How can one fail to reflect on the resentment being generated among younger generations by the massacres of civilians in Gaza and now in Lebanon? And how can the same question not be asked with regard to the war in Ukraine and the many other regions scarred by hatred and violence? Even if many leaders believe that the path forward in the face of such scenarios lies in rearmament—feeding the profits of the merchants of death—Pope Leo, speaking from Algiers, reminds us that: “The future belongs to men and women of peace,” and that “justice will always triumph over injustice, just as violence, despite all appearances, will never have the last word.” The voice of peace of the Successor of Peter, the Vicar of the defenseless Son of God who chose the nonviolent path of self-sacrifice on the Cross, resonates even more powerfully when it rises from this land, where the Church is an absolute minority and where the witness of the very few Christians is all the more essential—grounded in service and in sharing the joys and sufferings of all.