Province of St. Mark

Augustinian Presence in Hippo, Algeria

No one can say that the threat of terrorism has disappeared completely from this country. However, Algeria’s situation is no longer that which prevailed, say, a year ago. Things are changing and people are more prone to resist not only the dictates of fundamentalists but also any idea of closing oneself in a religious and cultural ghetto. Foreign countries no longer consider Algeria as a highly risky country, one which should be avoided at any cost. As from November of 1997 several commissions and delegations have visited the country to give a new boost to economic co-operation and a sound policy for investments. Algeria is determined to adhere to a market economy. It needs international investments to be able to tackle its real problems: unemployment, education, restructuring its industry, rebuilding agriculture.... Foreign representatives seem to have understood the true needs of Algeria and its people. Both they and those in government are acknowledging that a strong Algeria, open to the outside reconciled with itself, is the best means to eradicate terrorism definitely and to let Algeria find its place in today’s world. There are good signs of a political will to build a strong and open Algeria, although not all ambiguities have yet disappeared. The presence of our Order in Algeria is a concrete sign of our twofold faithfulness: to the Church and to our holy father Augustine. Christ makes himself felt in the Islamic world by means of our presence, which becomes a sacrament of salvation. Through our presence, the Church shows its solidarity with the Algerian population in a tangible way: She suffers with the suffering and cries with the crying. Through our presence, Augustine is alive in the midst of his own people, not only in historical and archaeological remains, but in a living community of Augustinians. After the last Provincial Chapter, held in Malta in January 2004, the Augustinian community of Hippo is made up of two friars: Fr. Pierre Desira OSA and Fr. Raphael Abdilla OSA. Together they seek to be living witnesses to the Church and the Augustinian charism. Work is never scarce: animation, above all liturgical, of the small Christian community, religious dialogue with Islam, especially during visits which several people pay to the Basilica, personal encounters in the convent and cultural dialogue through research into Augustinian culture and its spreading among Algerians.