Christianity in Algeria
[1] Currently, North Africa is primarily Muslim: Islam is the state religion of Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Egypt and Tunisia.
[2] There is some evidence that there has been an increase in conversions to Christianity among North African Muslims in recent years, even though in many cases the government will not change the religion from Islam on any citizens' identity cards.
This terrorist act was part of a general trend of violence during the Algerian Civil War in the 1990s, commonly known as the Black Decade.
In addition, calendar reforms adopted in Europe at this time were disseminated amongst the indigenous Christians of Tunis, which would have not been possible had there been an absence of contact with Rome.
[13] Berber Christians continued to live in Tunis and Nefzaoua in the south of Tunisia up until the first quarter of the 15th century.
The country was divided into four dioceses, including one archdiocese: During French rule, Christianity was used as a tool of assimilation.
Laws were put in place to establish Algerians’ rights as citizens based on religion.
Some of the missionaries of these organizations remained in the country after independence, working among the poorer segments of the population.
The 1996 murder of Pierre Claverie, Bishop of Oran was an act of violence by Islamic extremist terrorists against the Christian community.
[19] Pierre Claverie and the seven monks were beatified in a mass also attended by Muslims at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Cross in Oran on 8 December 2018.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November looked at the government’s treatment of the Ahmadi Muslim and Protestant Christian communities, noting “State-inflicted harassment".
The 2018 report of the Human Rights Commission expressed the committee's concern about the risk of criminalization of non-Muslim activities, the closure of churches and attacks & intimidations against people not practicing Ramadan.
[30] Only the second letter was answered, in two parts, in which the Algerian government stated that "the allegations concerning the situation of Protestants in Algeria are false and unfounded".
[25][26] However, various joint NGO’s and international organization’s statements, including from the world evangelical alliance and the World Council of Churches, have continued to call on the government of Algeria to bring the legal framework on religious minority rights in line with its international obligations on the right to freedom of religion or belief, allow re-opening of all Protestant churches, and overturn convictions of individual Christians.
