The Pope, ‘Chrislam,’ and the Selective Courage Toward Power
Pope Leo XIV visits the Great Mosque of Algiers “Djamaa El Djazair” with the Rector of the Great Mosque of Algiers, Mohammed Al-Mamoun Al-Qasimi Al-Hassani, and cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, Archbishop of Algiers, on April 13, 2026.
ALBERTO PIZZOLI / AFP
When peace among nations becomes the ultimate end of religion, religions are reduced to geopolitical instruments.
With his apostolic journey to Algeria, Pope Leo XIV intended to send a very precise message to the world, which we can summarize as follows: peace does not arise only from balances of power but when religions cease to be instruments of conflict and place themselves at the service of human dignity.
The journey thus fits into the wake of the one carried out in November 2025 in Turkey and Lebanon, where the pontiff reiterated that peace becomes possible only when Christians and Muslims choose to recognize one another as “custodians of each other,” transforming borderlands …