After papal visit to Algeria, religious liberty should be discussed, says journalist
After Pope Leo XIV’s historic visit to Algeria, it’s worth asking, “Do Christians there actually have religious liberty?” says a Turkish journalist in a new ACN podcast.
Algeria is one of the most oppressive countries today for Christians and other non-Muslims, says Uzay Bulut, in a podcast hosted by Dr. Robert Royal, president of the Faith & Reason Institute. Bulut is a Turkey-born journalist formerly based in Ankara. She focuses on Turkey, political Islam, and the history of the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
As Pope Leo began his African pastoral visit, Bulut told Royal that in Algeria, Muslim citizens do not have the freedom to leave Islam for another religion.
“There are always consequences [for such an action], such as investigations, criminal prosecutions, arrest and imprisonment,” she said.
That’s due to two laws that were passed in recent years. As a result of those laws, the first of which was passed in 2006, all Protestant Evangelical churches and Catholic charities such as Caritas have been shut down.
“Within the last three years, over 50 Christians were prosecuted, and some of them received prison sentences and fines.” Why? “Because in the eyes of the Algerian government, there are only two identities that are promoted – ‘Arabness’ … and Islam.”
Because of the two laws, she said, it is almost impossible to open new churches, so some Christians can meet only in private homes or outdoors or online.
“But even when they do that, there are consequences and extreme risks such as house raids, arrests, imprisonments and interrogations,” Bulut said.
In addition, proselytizing is considered a crime, according to the Algerian constitution, the journalist maintained.
Bulut goes on in the rest of the podcast to discuss the situation for Christians in the other countries Pope Leo is visiting, including Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Angola.
The full podcast is below.
–John Burger
