Algeria

Leader:  President Bouteflika
Population:  34 million (few Christians)
Main Religion:  Islam
Government:  Republic  

  

A law applied in 2008 gives the government the right to regulate all aspects of Christian practice. This led to 26 churches, about half of all evangelical churches, being ordered to close. At least ten Christians were arrested, most for carrying Christian books or Bibles, and several received suspended jail sentences and fines. Despite this, and intensive negative media coverage, the Church continues to grow. Nearly all Christians are former Muslims.

Pray

  • That international pressure on the Algerian government will result in the new law being rescinded
  • That the church would continue to grow in numbers and commitment despite the increased opposition
  • Praise God for all who raised their voice in protest and saw the government crackdown ease off in recent months.
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Christianity in Algeria

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The basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique in Algiers.

Christianity came to North Africa in the Roman era. Its influence declined during the chaotic period of the Vandal invasions but was strengthened in the succeeding Byzantine period, only to disappear gradually after the Arab invasions of the seventh century.[1]

Today, North Africa is primarily Muslim; Islam is the state religion of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. However, the free expression of other faiths is guaranteed by law. Although the current proportion of Christians in North Africa is low, churches can still be found there, and it is thought that there has been an increase in the number of conversions to Christianity in recent years. The total number of adherents remains very low relative to the populations of those countries. The percentage of Christians in Algeria is less than 2% ([2009]). In 2009, the UNO counted 20,000 Roman Catholics and between 200,000 and 320,000 Protestants in the country.

Conversions to Christianity have been most common in Kabylie, especially in the wilaya of Tizi-Ouzou[2]. In that wilaya, the proportion of Christians has been estimated to be between 1% and 5%.

Christians have at times been subjected to religiously-motivated attacks. In 1996, the Msgr Pierre Claverie, bishop of Oran, was assassinated by Islamists. This murder occurred soon after that of seven monks of the Trappistes of Tibérine, and of six nuns. However, religious animosity seems to have declined since then.

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[edit] Catholicism

The Roman Catholic Church was reintroduced in Algeria after the French conquest, when the diocese of Algiers was established in 1838. Proselytization of the Muslim population was at first strictly prohibited; later the prohibition was less vigorously enforced, but few conversions took place. The several Roman Catholic missions established in Algeria were concerned with charitable and relief work; the establishment of schools, workshops, and infirmaries; and the training of staff for the new establishments. Some of the missionaries of these organizations remained in the country after independence, working among the poorer segments of the population. In the early 1980s, the Roman Catholic population numbered about 45,000, most of whom were foreigners or Algerians who had married French or Italians.[1]

During French rule, the Catholic population of Algeria peaked at over one million, but most of these left following Algeria's independence in 1962. In recent years, there has been a rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the country and Catholics have been subjected to persecution, culminating in the 1996 murder of a Pierre Claverie, bishop of Oran[2] There are now about 83,000 Catholics residing in the country.

The country is divided into four dioceses, including one archdiocese.

The diocese of Algeria was established in 1838 with the conquest of Algeria by French colonial troops. All proselytism among Muslims has long been prohibited and the role of the Catholic church is limited to acts of charity.

[edit] Protestantism

Protestants number between 250,000 and 300,000 in Algeria. [3] This small population generally practices its faith without government interference. [4] However, converts from Islam can be exposed to the risk of attack by extremists. [5] Missionary groups are permitted to conduct humanitarian activities without government interference as long as they are discreet and do not proselytize openly. [6] Since 2006 missioning Muslims can be punished with up to five years of prison. [7] The Protestant Church of Algeria is a Reformed Church with about 1,500 members. [8] The Protestant Church of Algeria is one of only two officially recognized Christian organizations in the country. [9] The country's Minister of Religious Affairs has called the evangelical churches "dangerous". [10]

Protestant denominations in Algeria include:[11]

[edit] This is a translation of

[3]: Introduction and Christianisme en Algérie sections

Freedom of religion in Algeria

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Freedom of religion in Algeria is regulated by the Algerian Constitution, which declares Islam to be the state religion (Article 2) but also that "freedom of creed and opinion is inviolable" (Article 36); it prohibits discrimination based on "opinion or any other personal or social condition or circumstance" (Article 29).

The government generally respects this in practice, with some limited exceptions. The government follows a de facto policy of tolerance by allowing, in limited instances, the conduct of religious services by non-Muslim faiths in the capital which were open to the public. The small Christian and tiny Jewish populations generally practice their faiths without government interference. The law does not recognize marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men (but vice versa).

[edit] Within Islam

The Government appoints imams to mosques and provides general guidance on sermons. However, during the period covered by this report there were reports that adherents replaced government-appointed imams with ones whose views more closely aligned to the sentiments of local practitioners. The Government monitors activities in mosques for possible security-related offenses, bars the use of mosques as public meeting places outside of regular prayer hours, and convokes imams to the Ministry of Religious Affairs for "disciplinary action" when warranted.

Amendments to the Penal Code in 2001 established strict punishments, including fines and prison sentences, for anyone other than a government-designated imam who preaches in a mosque. The Ministry of Religious Affairs coordinated with imams in certain regions to reduce religious extremism following reports that Salafist members called for the boycott of specific prayers, the division of mosques between Salafi and non-Salafi members, and the right to lead religious lessons and hold religious seminars. Harsher punishments were established for any person, including government-designated imams, if such persons act "against the noble nature of the mosque" or act in a manner "likely to offend public cohesion." The amendments do not specify what actions would constitute such acts. By law, the Government is allowed to pre-screen religious sermons before they are delivered publicly. However, in practice the Government generally reviews sermons after the fact. The Government's right of review has not been exercised among non-Islamic faiths.

During 2003, the Government sanctioned a number of imams for inflammatory sermons following the May 21 earthquake and for interpretations of the Qur'an "likely to offend public cohesion." The Ministry of Religious Affairs provides some financial support to mosques and during the period covered by this report sought to expand its control over the training of imams through a government-run Islamic educational institute. At the end of the period covered by this report, no school had actually been established.

[edit] For non-Muslims

Algerian society is highly religiously homogeneous, and it is widely assumed that all Algerians are Muslim. However, this is not strictly correct.

People of no religion are considered to be particularly numerous in Kabylie (a Berber-speaking area) where they are generally tolerated and sometimes supported; notably, Matoub Lounes is widely seen as a hero among Kabyles, despite (or because of) his irreligion. In most other areas, the non-religious tend to be more discreet.

The study of Islam is a requirement in the public and private schools for every Algerian child, irrespective of his/her religion.[1]

Muslim women cannot marry non-Muslim men (Algerian Family Code I.II.31).[2], and apostates are disinherited (Family Code III.I.138.). A marriage is legally nullified by the apostasy of the husband (presumably from Islam, although this is not specified; Family Code I.III.33.)

The majority of cases of harassment and security threats against non-Muslims come from the now nearly destroyed Armed Islamic Group, an organization fighting the government who are determined to rid the country of those who do not share their extremist interpretation of Islam. However, a majority of the population subscribes to Islamic precepts of tolerance in religious beliefs. Moderate Islamist religious and political leaders have criticized publicly acts of violence committed in the name of Islam.

Missionary groups are permitted to conduct humanitarian activities without government interference as long as they are discreet and do not proselytize openly. If they do, they are sometimes arrested [3] and sometimes left alone[4]. Many of the "home churches" in which Christians worship are in contact with the Government, and none report being intimidated or threatened.

Eating in public during Ramadan (particularly for people who "look Muslim") is legal but attracts public hostility in most areas, except for some areas of Kabylie; most restaurants close in Ramadan.

In general noncitizens who practice faiths other than Islam enjoy a high level of tolerance within society; however, citizens who renounce Islam generally are ostracized by their families and shunned by their neighbors. The Government generally does not become involved in such disputes. Converts also expose themselves to the risk of attack by radical extremists.


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