Priest Penalized for Praying in Algeria
2006 Pro-Islam Law Begins to Have Effects
ICC Note
The most surprising thing is that the conviction was issued simply because the priest visited a group of Christians in Cameroon . He had not celebrated Mass, but was only joining them in a prayer. It was Dec. 29, a little after Christmas.”
FEB. 13, 2008 Algeria (Zenit.org). – A Catholic priest was sentenced by the tribunal of Oran , a city in northwestern Algeria , to a year in prison for having directed a religious ceremony in a place which has not been recognized by the government.
Father Pierre Wallez is the first victim of legislation approved in March 2006 regarding the exercise of the practices of non Muslim worship, in this North African country of 33 million residents, 99% of whom are Muslim.
Speaking Saturday on Vatican Radio, Archbishop Henri Teissier of Alger, explained that the most surprising thing is that the conviction was issued simply because the priest visited a group of Christians in Cameroon . He had not celebrated Mass, but was only joining them in a prayer. It was Dec. 29, a little after Christmas.”
They systematically reject entrance visas for our delegates, stated the archbishop, and in November they withdrew the residency permission for four young Brazilian priests who were working with the Portuguese-speaking African immigrants.
The law, composed of 17 articles, prohibits the exercise of non-Islamic worship outside buildings approved by authorities.
