Pope Leo calls for peaceful relations between Christians and Muslims
A few weeks before his visit to the majority-Muslim nation of Algeria, Pope Leo XIV met at the Vatican with a Christian-Muslim group from Africa.
Members of the Program for Christian-Muslim Relations in Africa (PROCMURA), headquartered in Kenya, met with the pontiff in the Audience Hall on March 25, 2026.
Leo arrives in Algeria on April 13, leaving on April 15, the first leg of an 11-day visit to the African continent.
The North African country is over 99 percent Muslim. There was a strong Catholic community when it was under French rule, but the vast majority of Christians left Algeria when it became independent in 1962.
During the mid-1990s civil war, 19 Algerian Martyrs were killed. Seven murdered Trappist monks were the subject of the 2010 French film Of Gods and Men.
In his address, Pope Leo said he wanted to advance the dialogue with followers of other religions and promote peace and a spirit of fraternity among all.
“The Catholic Church calls for mutual understanding and respect for the followers of other religions, affirming that she ‘rejects nothing of what is true and holy in these religions,’ for they ‘often reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men and women’ [from the Vatican II document Nostra Aetate]. Indeed, every authentic journey toward unity and communion undertaken by Christians and by people of goodwill is the work of the Holy Spirit and requires hearts open to encounter and dialogue so as to embrace one another in genuine fraternity,” the pontiff said.
He said Christians, “guided by Christ’s love,” should foster communion and deepen their commitment to Christian-Muslim cooperation “for the sake of the common good.”
“Through such efforts, peace, justice and hope will increasingly flourish in African societies and beyond. I likewise trust that these encounters will bear fruit through the sharing of grassroots initiatives to promote social friendship, the strengthening of partnerships, and a common discernment of those areas requiring urgent action,” Leo added.
Although he didn’t mention his trip to Algeria and didn’t bring up anti-Christian violence in countries such as Nigeria and Syria, the pope did call for peaceful dialogue between religions.
“In a world increasingly marked by religious radicalisation, division, and conflict, your common witness shows that it is possible to live and work together in peace and harmony, despite cultural and religious differences,” he said.
Quoting his Oct. 28, 2025, speech to Heads and Representatives of World Religions on the sixtieth anniversary of Nostra Aetate, he said religious leaders bear a great responsibility “to help our people to break free from the chains of prejudice, anger and hatred; to help them rise above egoism and self-centeredness; to help them overcome the greed that destroys both the human spirit and the earth.”
“In this way, we can lead our people to become prophets of our time — voices that denounce violence and injustice, heal division, and proclaim peace for all our brothers and sisters,” Pope Leo said.