Pope Leo XIV in Algeria walks in footsteps of his spiritual father, St. Augustine

The pope arrived at the ruins in a rainstorm and with tight security, with sharpshooters positioned around the site and policemen stationed every few yards (meters) along roads leading to it.

Leo prayed under under a tent looking out over the ruins of the ancient Roman city, including its theater, market and basilica where Augustine preached and the adjoining baptistry. In a sign of peace, he planted an olive tree and watched as white doves were set free.

Accompanied by the current head of his Augustinian religious order, the Rev. Joseph Farrell, Leo then walked amid the muddy ruins for a few minutes, pausing to listen to an Algerian choir.

Leo proclaimed himself a “son of St. Augustine” on the night of his election and has cited Augustine prolifically in his first year, making clear that he's the guiding inspiration of Leo's pontificate. For this trip, Leo is focusing on Augustine as a bridge-builder as he aims to press a message of peace and Christian-Muslim coexistence.

“God’s heart is torn apart by wars, violence, injustice and lies,” Leo later told a small gathering of nuns and elderly people in Annaba.

The visit also draws attention to the North African origins of Augustine, who spent only five years in Italy but is often seen through a Eurocentric lens as one of the greatest Western thinkers of Christianity for his writings on truth, evil, creation and grace.

Leo's Augustinian religious order was founded in Italy in the 13th century, inspired by the saint.

A life in North Africa, looking to Rome

St. Augustine was born in 354 to a Berber mother and Roman father in Thagaste, today the Algerian city of Souk Ahras near the border with Tunisia. At the time, the swath of North Africa was part of the Roman Empire, including Carthage in today’s Tunisia, where Augustine was educated and taught rhetoric.

He left North Africa for Rome in 383 and then Milan, where he converted to Christianity. He returned to his homeland soon thereafter, founded a monastery at Hippo where he developed the rule of his order in use today, emphasizing community life. He became a bishop and in Hippo wrote some of the most important works in the Western canon, including “Confessions” and “The City of God.”

A new book, “Augustine the African,” by Catherine Conybeare, an Augustine scholar at Bryn Mawr college in Pennsylvania, explores Augustine from his perspective: As a North African, looking to Rome as the center of his universe but feeling insecure there about his Punic-accented Latin.

“One of the most important thinkers in the Western intellectual tradition actually came from Africa, spent almost his whole life in Africa,” Conybeare told The Associated Press. “How does that change things?”

“Of course, because his successors — the people who carried on his heritage — were in Europe, they got to tell the story,” she said. And Europe got his body: After Augustine died in Hippo in 430, his body was taken eventually to Pavia, Italy, though a forearm remains in the basilica dedicated to him in Annaba.

In welcoming Leo, President Abdelmadjid Tebboune expressed the “immense pride” Algerians feel over St. Augustine. He called him “a cherished son of this land, which having been his first cradle, proudly became his initial resting place.”

A personal visit for Leo

Leo made clear en route to Algeria and in remarks to Algerian authorities how deeply personal and important this visit is to him, because of his spiritual connection to St. Augustine. He had visited twice before, while he was superior of the Augustinian order.

“This journey, which is very special for several reasons, was supposed to be the first of my pontificate,” Leo told reporters on the papal plane. “As early as last May, I had said that on my first journey, I would like to visit Africa. Several people immediately suggested Algeria because of St. Augustine.”

In the end, other trips intervened, but he kept the appointment.

The saint, he said, represents “a very important bridge in interreligious dialogue" that the world could use today.

“We must always seek bridges to build peace and reconciliation," he said. "This journey, then, truly represents a valuable opportunity to continue with the same voice, with the same message, that we wish to convey: to promote peace, reconciliation, respect and consideration for all peoples.”

Also Tuesday, Leo was visiting a small community of Augustinians in Annaba. He was finishing the day by celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Augustine, the 19th century basilica overlooking the ruins of Hippo which contains the relic of the saint. Thousands of pilgrims visit the basilica each year, including Muslims.

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