by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) - The government of Algeria is continuing a systematic crack down on churches, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports.
Algeria has a population of 42 million people, 99% of whom are Sunni Muslim. The remaining 1% of the population includes a small Christian community represented by Catholics and Protestants.
According to ICC, the ongoing Israel-Hamas war has made life more difficult for Christians in the North African nation.
“The Algerian government perceives them as supporting Israel in the conflict and as foreign and western influences corrupting the nation’s Islamic national unity,” ICC said in its report.
Following last year’s total closure of 16 churches, the Algerian government has now decided that Christian services may only host up to 10 people, ICC reports. Moreover, ICC said, in recent weeks several Algerian pastors were imprisoned on account of their faith.
“Christians’ situation in Algeria is further complicated since the majority of Algerian Christians come from the Kabyle ethnic group, where there is a separatist movement against the Algerian central government,” ICC explains in its report. “Christianity in Algeria has a long history, and a distinction must be made by the Algerian government between peaceful practice of Algerian Christians’ faith and political movements in the region,” ICC said.
Ruled by a dictatorial, oppressive Islamic regime, Algeria ranks 19th on the US Open Doors World Watch List 2023 of the top 50 countries where Christians are persecuted.