And we're pleased to welcome Father Fred Wikesa
rector of the Basilica of St. Augustine that's in the northeastern port city of Anaba in Algeria
Thank you for being with us here on France 24. Thank you so much for hosting me also
The Basilica of St. Augustine, we should remind our viewers that St. Augustine
the fourth-century theologian who's so important in the Catholic Church, of course, was Algerian
Exactly, yeah. The basilica now, as it is, it was built from 1881 to 1900, and one of the
objectives was to honor St. Augustine, because during that time, in the late 19th century
we had only the ruins. And in the ruins, it was discovered that the Basilica of Peace exists
where Augustine worked as a bishop and died and was buried, even though his body was taken to
Italy and is in Pavia now. But at least the new church was built in honor of him and also to have
a place of worship for the current community. And the last reason is at least to have a place like a carafour
a place of meeting whereby the tourists, the pilgrims, can be able to come and visit, discover about the riches of St. Augustine
and also know more about his spirituality. Indeed, it is very, very important here in Algeria
in terms of building bridges to live in peace. Yeah, building bridges
Again, seeing those live images, you're watching them with us there from Notre Dame de l'Afrique Cathedral in Algiers
Explain it again for our audiences The Pope visiting a country where Catholics make up just a tiny fraction of the population
Yes, exactly. We are very few. But being few does not mean that we are insignificant
In fact, His Holiness Pope, Leo XIV, coming to visit us, It is an encouragement to us
It has even renewed us spiritually to value also that we belong to the church
the church that cares because the messenger of peace in the name of Pope Leo XIV
is coming to visit us. So he's coming really encourages us as a small community
But then his reason to come is not only for us, the minority Christians, but it's coming for the people of Algeria also
Because remember, it is in connection with St. Augustine. Because St. Augustine was born some 90 kilometers from here in a place called Tagaste, which is in the willy of Sukaras
But here where we are, he worked as a bishop and died here
it was hippo, but now it's another. Then, this brings in the
importance of his visit, is really to bring us the message of peace, and also
as he said, the Pope said when he was coming back from Lebanon, that he would want to
advance the message of peace. Therefore, he's coming also to bring us
the message of peace, as the theme says, Peace be with you
That is the theme of this visit here. And also to make us, like we already live in peace
but to encourage us and to do more about having a religious dialogue, dialoguing between Muslims and Christians
And Christians Father Rukesa let me ask you about this because for our viewers there a context there a backdrop there a history
People who are in Algeria remember the so-called blood years when there was a civil war and most notably the slaughter of the monks of Tiberine
Is that something you thought about this morning when you woke up and you looked at the Pope's agenda
for the day, visiting the Grand Mosque, that ecumenical gestures surrounding this visit
Yes, yeah, for sure. There are two ways in which now we can be able to see Algeria
And I thank God for this opportunity where the Holy Father is coming to visit
One is that before I came here and other people who have the temptation to see Algeria in terms of 1990s
I can tell them that, sorry, things have changed. Because it has been witnessed
I've been here 10 years in Algeria. And then we can see the welcome that was accorded to His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV
And then there is a kind of tolerance that exists here. That's why we are up to where we are
Therefore, the Pope's coming is coming to enhance this interreligious dialogue. but for me, I take it further also, that we should not only concentrate on the religion to dialogue
but also let us have this dialogue in our families. Because St. Augustine tells us that for you to have peace, what does it mean
It means the tranquility of the order. Yeah, tranquility of the order
such that when things are in order, when justice is done, when equality reigns therefore we shall have peace What does this Augustine mean It means that we cannot find a hand on the head or the head walking
Like, things find them in their right place to rest there. Therefore, Pope Scamming is bringing this message of peace
and to advance more on this interreligious dialogue. And just very briefly on this, sir
When things are not good. Just very briefly on this, he's getting a warm welcome, as both our correspondent and you have said
In Algeria, the first American pope getting an earful from the current U.S. president who called him, quote, terrible
We're seeing in the last minutes among those defending the pope is the Italian prime minister calling Donald Trump's remarks unacceptable
saying it's right and normal for him to call for peace and condemn all forms of war
Your thoughts on this spat that's arisen between Pope Leo and Donald Trump
Yeah, what I can say is that the president, Donald Trump, maybe does not understand the agenda of peace
Yeah, because for Pope Leo, what he's saying is that let us use, like Augustine suggested
when there is a problem. And of course, when we live in peace, there will be some problems
But how can we be able to resolve these problems is through employing the method of dialogue
Even for Augustine, when there was a lot of divisions in the church, the Donatists, the Pelagians, the Manichaeans
he dialogued with them to bring them back. Therefore, the Pope is proposing a peaceful
a better, the best way is to dialogue rather than to resolve in using force and violence
Violence cannot resolve anything. So it is in the sense that he has misunderstood
He's misunderstood. Father Fred Wukesas, thank you so much for joining us
from Naba in Algeria