The despicable priest

The despicable priest
We all know that the mafia-like power of the ‘Algerian nation’ is a champion at corrupting foreign politicians and diplomats. But to see a Catholic cleric eating off their plate is an absolute record in this art.
The despicable priest has just declared that the Algerian military must not be prevented from creating a mutant people through the evil doctrine of Islam.
Let’s see what the new promoter of Islam has to say.
For a long time a land of interreligious coexistence, Algeria is now finding itself in the dock here at home, following various measures that have restricted the right of Christians of different denominations to live their religion to the full.
The recent trials in Tiaret against people of Muslim origin who have embraced evangelical Christianity have earned Algeria the reputation in Western countries of being a country where Christians are persecuted. This situation is at least as tragic for Algeria, whose image is tarnished in this way, as it is for the Christians in question.
It is therefore imperative that this dual dynamic – the deterioration of the lives of Christians in Algeria on the one hand, and the deterioration of Algeria’s image on the other – be halted as quickly as possible. Algeria is not an anti-Christian country. Its leaders have had many occasions in the not-too-distant past to express their consideration for the Churches historically present in the country.
Just in the last few days, on the occasion of an international seminar devoted to the Emir Abd El-Kader, held in Algiers on 24 and 25 May, Mgr Henri Teissier, Archbishop (resigned) of Algiers, and I were the focus of much attention from the Algerian authorities, starting with the second most important person in the country, the President of the Council of the Nation (Senate), Abdelkader Bensalah. And I had the opportunity to talk about all this very openly and frankly for an hour with the President of the High Islamic Council of Algeria, Dr Cheikh Bouamrane.
Yes, over the last few months there have been some appalling situations, such as the expulsion of a Protestant pastor who had been in the country for some forty-five years, or the suspended prison sentence handed down to a priest who had done nothing more than pray with Cameroonian Christians who were illegal immigrants.
But we must also listen to what the Algerian authorities and a significant section of the population are saying. Algeria’s fundamental unity lies in its Islamic identity. This is the profound identity of its people. The existence of European Christians, even naturalised Algerians, was not a threat to this unity and identity. The same cannot be said when Algerians from Muslim families become Christians. The colonial conquerors’ attacks on Muslim culture and institutions come back to mind. Memories of the attempts made in the nineteenth century to hijack Islam by certain sections of the population come back to life.
Knowing how the American imperial power is using evangelical Christianity to its advantage in various countries around the world, many Algerians fear that there is a strategy in place to create a Christian minority in their country, which could one day become a pretext for military intervention. There is certainly pressure from certain states in the Gulf or the Arabian Peninsula behind the current difficulties faced by Christians, so that Algeria will display more of its Islamic identity at the gates of Europe. But there are also Algerian fears and a particular sensitivity on the part of the Algerian people that must not be treated with contempt.
In this situation, there is an urgent need for calm reflection on the legitimacy, or otherwise, of Christian proselytism in Islamic lands. For while we can only defend the right of every individual to move freely towards the faith of his or her choice, on the other hand, it may seem less certain that attempts to bring men and women of the Muslim faith to our side, using various techniques, are permissible. The Gospel certainly asks Christians to proclaim Christ, but not at the cost of tearing a people apart, not at the cost of creating situations of violence. This, moreover, has been the ‘credo’ and practice of both Mgr Teissier and Cardinal Duval, both of whom built contemporary Algeria.
Christian Delorme is a priest in the diocese of Lyon, with a long-standing commitment to Christian-Muslim dialogue.
 Le Monde  03 2008