What Happened?
Pope Leo XIV made a historic visit to Algeria — the first ever papal visit to the country — as part of an 11-day African tour that will also include Cameroon and Angola. He called on Algerians to “forgive” past wars, an implicit reference to the legacy of French colonialism. On the sidelines of the visit, two suicide attackers were stopped in the city of Blida, about 30 miles from the capital Algiers: one attempted to blow himself up at a police station, the other at a sports complex. This was Algeria’s first terrorist attack since 2017.
Why It Matters?
The visit carries overlapping religious and geopolitical meanings: it reinforces the Catholic presence in a region experiencing rapid Islamic expansion, and sends a quiet diplomatic signal that pushes back against Trump’s attacks on the Pope. The foiled attacks are a warning sign that Algeria — despite its surface stability — still has embers burning underneath. In the broader context of the Iran war, the Pope is clearly trying to define the Church’s role as a voice for peace against the prevailing logic of military force.