Persecution of Christians in Algeria: the modern nation of Algeria is in a region that was once a renowned center of Orthodox Christianity. The holy martyr St. Cyprian of Carthage, Blessed Augustine of Hippo, and many other saints hailed from North Africa. But in 647, the first Arab invaders arrived, and the Islamization of the area began. Ultimately Christianity was entirely wiped out in North Africa. The harsh sentence given to this convert to Christianity indicates the determination of authorities that the nation’s ancient faith not experience a resurrection.
Please keep the Christians of Algeria who are enduring these church closures in your prayers, and pray also to our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ for the revival of Holy Orthodoxy in this venerable land.
For previous ChristianPersecution.com coverage of the persecution of Christians in Algeria, see here.
“Algeria: Christian Convicted of Blasphemy,” Middle East Concern, February 4, 2021:
Algerian Christians request prayer for a believer from a Muslim background convicted of blasphemy. On 21 January a court in Erzwe – Oran, sentenced him to five-years imprisonment.
The Christian (43) is married with four children (ages 6, 4, 3 years and four-months-old). He has known Jesus since 2001.
In 2018 he shared a caricature of the Prophet of Islam in one of his social media accounts. On 20 January 2021 he was summoned by police for investigation, accused of insulting the Prophet of Islam….
Several similar charges and punishments have been reported against others in the country, including two Christians from a Muslim background from the Kabylie area who were recently convicted of blasphemy. They received sentences of six months and three years respectively, and were fined between US $375 and $1,900.
Photo By Bakinounas – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=79538333