Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

came to

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

in the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

era. According to historian

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

what is now Mediterranean Algeria was fully Christian by the fifth century. A notable Berber Christian of Algeria was

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman province), Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced th ...

(and his mother

Saint Monica Monica ( – 387) was an early North African Christian saint and the mother of Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, partic ...

), important saints in

. Christianity's influence declined during the chaotic period of the

Vandal The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vandal ...

invasions but was strengthened in the succeeding

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

period. After the

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

invasions of the 7th century, Christianity began to gradually disappear. Deeb, Mary Jane. "Religious minorities" ''Algeria (Country Study)''. Federal Research Division, Library of Congress; Helen Chapan Metz, ed. December 1993. ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

.'

/ref> Currently, North Africa is primarily Muslim:

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

is the state religion of

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

. While the practice and expression of other faiths is guaranteed by law, the same legal framework tends to restrict minority religions from actively seeking conversion to their religion, or even building or repairing churches. Converts to Christianity may be investigated and searched by the authorities as well as punished. 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. Despite this, the total number of Christians remains very low relative to the populations of these countries. In 2009, the percentage of Christians in Algeria was less than 2%. In this same survey, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

counted 100,000

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and 45,000

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in the country. Although Christians are a religious minority in Algeria, churches built during French rule can still be found. Conversions to Christianity have been most common in

Kabylie Kabylia or Kabylie (; in Kabyle language, Kabyle: Tamurt n leqbayel; in Tifinagh: ⵜⴰⵎⵓⵔⵜ ⵏ ⵍⴻⵇⴱⴰⵢⴻⵍ; ), meaning "Land of the Tribes" is a mountainous coastal region in northern Algeria and the homeland of the Kaby ...

, especially in the

wilaya A wilayah ( or ''wilāya'', plural ; Urdu, Pashto and ; ) is an administrative division, usually translated as "state", "province" or occasionally as "governorate". The word comes from the Arabic root "''w-l-y''", "to govern": a ''wāli''—"g ...

of Tizi-Ouzou. In Tizi-Ouzou, the proportion of Christians has been estimated to be between 1% and 5%. Christians have at times been subjected to religiously motivated attacks. A 2015 study estimated that 380,000 Muslims have converted to Christianity in

. In 1996, Pierre Claverie, Bishop of Oran, was assassinated by

terrorists Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

. This murder occurred soon after that of seven monks of the Trappistes of Tibérine, and of six nuns. This terrorist act was part of a general trend of violence during the

Algerian Civil War The Algerian Civil War (), known in Algeria as the Black Decade (, ), was a civil war fought between the Algerian government and various Islamist rebel groups from 11 January 1992 (following a 1992 Algerian coup d'état, coup negating an Islami ...

in the 1990s, commonly known as the Black Decade. During this time, between 100,000 and 200,000 Algerians lost their lives.

History (Catholicism)

Indigenous Christianity after the Arab conquest

The conventional historical view is that the conquest of North Africa by the Islamic

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

between AD 647 and 709 effectively ended Christianity in North Africa for several centuries. The prevailing view is that the Church lacked the backbone of a monastic tradition and was still suffering from the aftermath of heresies including the

Donatist Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to ...

heresy that contributed to the earlier obliteration of the Church in the present day

Tamazgha Tamazgha is a fictitious entity and neologism in the Berber languages denoting the lands traditionally inhabited by the Berber peoples within the Maghreb. The term was coined in the 1970s by the Berber Academy in France and, since the late 1990 ...

. However, new scholarship has appeared that disputes this. There are reports that the Christian faith persisted in the region from

Tripolitania Tripolitania (), historically known as the Tripoli region, is a historic region and former province of Libya. The region had been settled since antiquity, first coming to prominence as part of the Carthaginian empire. Following the defeat ...

(present-day western Libya) to present-day Morocco for several centuries after the completion of the Arab conquest by 700 AD. A Christian community is recorded in 1114 in Qal'a in central Algeria. There is also evidence of religious pilgrimages after 850 AD to tombs of Christian saints outside of the city of

Carthage Carthage was an ancient city in Northern Africa, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classic ...

, and evidence of religious contacts with Christians of

Muslim Spain Al-Andalus () was the Muslim-ruled area of the Iberian Peninsula. The name refers to the different Muslim states that controlled these territories at various times between 711 and 1492. At its greatest geographical extent, it occupied most o ...

. In addition, calendar reforms adopted in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

at this time were disseminated amongst the indigenous Christians of

Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...

, which would have not been possible had there been an absence of contact with Rome. Local Christianity came under pressure when the Muslim fundamentalist regimes of the

Almohads The Almohad Caliphate (; or or from ) or Almohad Empire was a North African Berber Muslim empire founded in the 12th century. At its height, it controlled much of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa (the Maghreb). The Almohad ...

and

Almoravids The Almoravid dynasty () was a Berber Muslim dynasty centered in the territory of present-day Morocco. It established an empire that stretched over the western Maghreb and Al-Andalus, starting in the 1050s and lasting until its fall to the Almo ...

came into power, and the record shows demands that local Christians of Tunis convert to Islam. There are reports of Christian inhabitants and a bishop in the city of

Kairouan Kairouan (, ), also spelled El Qayrawān or Kairwan ( , ), is the capital of the Kairouan Governorate in Tunisia and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city was founded by the Umayyads around 670, in the period of Caliph Mu'awiya (reigned 661� ...

around 1150 AD - a significant report, since this city was founded by

Arab Muslims Arab Muslims () are the Arabs who adhere to Islam. They are the largest subdivision of the Arab people and the largest ethnic group among Muslims globally, followed by Bengalis and Punjabis. Likewise, they comprise the majority of the population ...

around 680 AD as their administrative center after their conquest. The indigenous Christian population in

M'zab The M'zab, or Mzab (Mozabite language, Mozabite: ''Aghlan'', ), is a natural region of the northern Sahara Desert in Ghardaïa Province, Algeria. It is located south of Algiers and has approximately 360,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). Geolog ...

persisted until the 11th century. A letter in Catholic Church archives from the 14th century shows that there were four bishoprics in North Africa, admittedly a sharp decline from the over four hundred bishoprics in existence at the time of the Arab conquest.

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

Christians continued to live in Tunis and

Nefzaoua Nefzaoua () is a region of southwest Tunisia bounded by the salt lake Chott el Djerid to the west, the Grand Erg Oriental to the south, and the Dahar plateau to the east.

Reintroduction of Christianity during French colonialism

The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

was reintroduced in Algeria after the French conquest, when the Diocese of Algiers was established in 1838. As of the last census in Algeria, taken on 1 June 1960, there were 1,050,000 non-Muslim civilians (mostly

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

) in Algeria (10 percent of the total population including 130,000

Algerian Jews The history of Jews in Algeria goes back to Antiquity, although it is not possible to trace with any certainty the time and circumstances of the arrival of the first Jews in what is now Algeria. In any case, several waves of immigration helpe ...

). Most of them were of French,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

origin. Under French rule, the Catholic population of Algeria peaked at over one million. The country was divided into four dioceses, including one archdiocese: *

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Algiers The Archdiocese of Algiers (, ) is the metropolitan see for the ecclesiastical province of Algiers in Algeria. History The diocese was established on 10 August 1838 as the Diocese of Algiers from Diocese of Islas Canarias in Spain. Later t ...

** Diocese of Constantine ** Diocese of Oran * Diocese of Laghouat (''Immediately subject to the Holy See'') During French rule, Christianity was used as a tool of assimilation. French colonizers attempted to convert the Muslim population to Christianity as a form of modernization. Laws were put in place to establish Algerians’ rights as citizens based on religion. The Crémieux Decree of 1870 denied Muslim Algerians full citizenship status while granting local Christian and Algerian Jewish inhabitants full citizenship. Very few Algerians converted because of this law. The religion-based citizenship divides established during the French colonial rule sparked animosity between groups that would impact the stance of minority religions in Algeria for years post-colonial rule.

Christianity after independence

After Algeria became independent in 1962, about 800,000

Pieds-Noirs The (; ; : ) are an ethno-cultural group of people of French and other European descent who were born in Algeria during the period of French colonial rule from 1830 to 1962. Many of them departed for mainland France during and after the ...

of French nationality were evacuated to

an France. The majority of those who evacuated were Christian or Jewish. Approximately 200,000 Algerian inhabitants of French nationality chose to remain in Algeria. The number of people with French nationality has continued to decrease over the decades. There were approximately 100,000 in 1965 and about 50,000 by the end of the 1960s."Pieds-noirs": ceux qui ont choisi de rester

La Dépêche du Midi ''La Dépêche'', formally ''La Dépêche du Midi'' (), is a regional daily newspaper published in Toulouse in Southwestern France with seventeen editions for different areas of the Midi-Pyrénées region. The main local editions are for Toul ...

, March 2012 Proselytization of the Muslim population was at first strictly prohibited; later the prohibition was less vigorously enforced, but few conversions took place. The several Catholic missions established in Algeria mostly worked on 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 Catholic population numbered about 45,000, most of whom were foreigners or Algerians who had married French or

Italians Italians (, ) are a European peoples, European ethnic group native to the Italian geographical region. Italians share a common Italian culture, culture, History of Italy, history, Cultural heritage, ancestry and Italian language, language. ...

. Since independence, there has been a rise of

Islamic fundamentalism Islamic fundamentalism has been defined as a revivalist and reform movement of Muslims who aim to return to the founding scriptures of Islam. The term has been used interchangeably with similar terms such as Islamism, Islamic revivalism, Qut ...

. The 1996 murder of Pierre Claverie, Bishop of Oran was an act of violence by Islamic extremist terrorists against the Christian community. In the same year, seven monks of the Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas were killed though it remains uncertain as to who killed them. 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.

Protestantism

Protestants numbered approximately 45,000 in Algeria in 2011, according to more conservative estimates. Figures in 2020 suggest that Protestants make up 0.03% of the country's population (or one in 10 Christians). Since 2006 missionary outreach among Muslims can be punished with up to five years of prison. The Protestant Church of Algeria is a

united church A united church, also called a uniting church, is a denomination formed from the merger or other form of church union of two or more different Protestantism, Protestant Christian denominations, a number of which come from separate and distinc ...

formed by the

Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and

Reformed Church Reformed Christianity, also called Calvinism, is a major branch of Protestantism that began during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation. In the modern day, it is largely represented by the Continental Reformed Christian, Presbyterian, ...

with about 10,000 members. The Protestant Church of Algeria is one of only two officially recognized Christian organizations in the country. According to the ICC, most Christians meet in homes, to protect themselves. The country's Minister of Religious Affairs has called the

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

churches "dangerous." 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". Protestants and Catholics have noted long delays on obtaining visas for religious workers. Since November 2017, 17 churches, members of the Protestant Church of Algeria, have been closed by the Algerian authorities, who justify these closures by a lack of authorisation from the National Commission for the exercise of non-Muslim worship.République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire, �
DZA 15.03.2021 (5.2020)
», 22 janvier 2021 (consulted on 22-03-2022)République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire, �
HRC/NONE/2021/SP/6
», 12 janvier 2021 (consulted the 22-03-2022) According to the Protestant Church of Algeria, this Commission has always refused to grant any authorisation to evangelical Protestant communities. The Church of the Full Gospel in Tizi Ouzou, which is described as the largest Algerian Protestant church was closed by police in 2019; US State Dept 2022 report
/ref> in March 2023, a court sentenced the president of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA), Pastor Salaheddine Chalah, to 18 months in prison for proselytizing on social media, although this was later reduced to non-custodial sentence. The 2018 report of the

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

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. In addition, the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief together with various other UN Special Rapporteurs sent two communications to the Algerian government. A first letter, dated 4 October 2018, expresses their concern about "the administrative and judicial barriers faced by members of the Christian minority" and the second, dated 2 December 2020, mentions an "administrative closure campaign". 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". However, various joint NGO’s and international organization’s statements, including from the

world evangelical alliance The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) is an interdenominational organization of evangelical Christian churches with 600 million adherents that was founded in 1846 in London, England, to unite evangelicals worldwide. WEA is the largest internati ...

and the

World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches (WCC) is a worldwide Christian inter-church organization founded in 1948 to work for the cause of ecumenism. Its full members today include the Assyrian Church of the East, most jurisdictions of the Eastern Orthodo ...

, 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. Protestant denominations in Algeria include:The World Christian Encyclopedia, Second edition, Volume 1, p. 57 * Armée du Salut * Assemblées de Dieu * Eglise Adventiste du Séptieme Jour * Eglise Evangélique Copte * Eglise Protestante d'Algérie * Frères Larges *

Anglican Diocese of Egypt The Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria is a province of the Anglican Communion. Its territory was formerly the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. On 29 June 2020 the diocese was elevated to the status of an eccles ...

* Mission Baptiste Evangélique * Mission Biblique de Ghardaia * Mission d'Afrique du Nord * Mission Evangélique au Sahara * Mission Evangélique de Médéa * Mission Evangélique du Sahara * Mission Rolland

References

Translated from :fr:Christianisme au Maghreb: Introduction and Christianisme en Algérie sections

External links

Theology in Africa

The African roots of Latin Christianity
by Henri Teissier, Bishop of Algeria
Muslims Turn to Christ in Algeria - CBN Report