At the end of last year, November 2021, we celebrated 15 years of mission here in the Archdiocese of Algiers/Algeria, in North Africa, and also at the end of last year the Lord gave us a new archbishop, Monsignor Jean-Paul Vesco, who took office on February 11th, the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes.
After many years, we were able to see the Cathedral completely full, because this celebration brought the faithful scattered throughout the country, the members of the diplomatic corps of various countries, as well as Muslim authorities and friends. The former members of this small particular Church reminded us that the last time they saw the Cathedral full was on the occasion of the celebration of an inter-diocesan Synod with the participation of the faithful of the four dioceses present in Algeria. It is true that this day has entered the history of this small Church in North Africa.
On this occasion, we had a great experience of inculturation in a local Church as members of a new Community (in the universal and local context). In fact, since October 2018, we have been responsible for all the dimensions of the Cathedral, because I assumed it as parish administrator and soon after as parish priest. For this great archdiocesan celebration we actively prepared everything, as hosts, from cleaning to decoration, from welcoming to organizing the various teams that serve in this place. As parish priest of the Cathedral I had a unique experience: it was I who opened the doors of the Church to welcome the new archbishop after he knocked to enter (part of the rite of canonical possession here), soon after I presented the crucifix for him to kiss and the holy water for him to bless himself. Still in the rite of possession, it was I who, on behalf of the local clergy, asked him to accept our renewal of obedience.
Even though I am a foreigner on this land, I did not feel like a foreigner in this local Church (even though I know that I am not connected to it by incardination). On the contrary, I felt part and very honoured, as a missionary sent here to this local Church, to be able to welcome our archbishop on behalf of the entire archdiocese, formed mostly by members from different countries and who are here either because of religious and missionary life or because of studies or work.
A little of our history here in North Africa:
The first missionaries of the Shalom Community arrived in 2006, at the invitation of the then Archbishop Monsignor Teissier, to help in the pastoral care of young sub-Saharan students, especially Portuguese-speaking students. To enable us to inculturate in the Arab/Muslim world, and based on our missionary experience in the Holy Land, we have become known here as the “Salam” Community (peace in Arabic). Over time, we have introduced other services of this very particular Church, especially in the reception of young university students and children from poor neighbourhoods in the various libraries maintained by the Church in the capital, as well as in visits to prisoners.
It is worth emphasising that we are inserted in a Muslim country where the number of Christians is less than 0.1% of the population. We can say that we are “tolerated” as Christians here, but our actions are very limited to official places of worship (churches and chapels). Explicit evangelisation in public is considered a crime of proselytising in local law.
Currently we dedicate ourselves in particular to the Cathedral, in all its parish dimensions and proper to the local reality, and to the working with young sub-Saharan students, who come to Algeria with scholarships from their countries of origin. These young people often encounter difficulties in integrating into Algerian society and sometimes suffer from racial discrimination. For us, this service of evangelisation expresses the generosity of the Community in spreading the Gospel in the lives of these young people from these different African countries (Mozambique, Cape Verde, Madagascar, Angola, Congo, etc.) without having an immediate return of quantitative growth in our mission here in Algeria, because these young people spend only a certain time with us and then return to their country of origin.
Regarding our service in the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Algiers, we seek to revive it through our pastoral activities, in particular by welcoming several visitors (we had almost three thousand visitors last year, most of them young Algerians and Muslims). Missionaries maintain this place of Christian worship by hosting masses, prayer groups, the reception of visitors, the production of religious objects and all the work of cleaning and decorating the church, expressing liturgical beauty through our Charisma.
Algiers, February 25, 2022.
Father Jean Fernandes Costa
Local head of the Algiers/Algeria mission