“No one can stop us from praying at home.” With a calm but determined voice, Dalila* refused to give in. Like hundreds of Algerians, this unemployed woman in her 30s, who lives in a village near Bouira, about 100 kilometers east of Algiers, can no longer go to a church to practice her faith.

Like in many parts of Algeria, the Protestant Church of Akbou, in Kabylia, where she used to attend services, was closed by Algerian authorities several years ago for “non-compliance with the law.” As a result, Dalila and her family prefer to pray at home. “All the co-religionists in the region gather at a family's home and pray together; what matters is communicating with God,” she said calmly.

These families gather in private places to pray because, apart from the headquarters of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) — located in the heart of Algiers and housing a church where prayers can still be held on Fridays and Sundays — there are no longer any legally open Protestant places of worship in the country.

The EPA is the main Protestant organization that is historically “recognized” by the government in 2011 and unites communities of different denominations.

Of the 48 churches directly affiliated with the EPA and about ten others that were open independently, all are now closed. Considered non-compliant with the law on the “exercise of non-Muslim worship,” these places of worship have been barred from access by the authorities.

Creation of a special commission

According to sources close to the EPA, this decision was justified by the “lack of authorization” granted to the associations responsible for managing these churches, a requirement stipulated in the 2006 law on the “exercise of non-Muslim worship.” However, judicial sources point out that “the law does not specify who is supposed to issue these authorizations.” Consequently, the faithful are effectively pushed into a situation of illegality.

Faced with the increasing number of requests, the authorities established a commission on “non-Muslim worship,” affiliated with the Ministry of Religious Affairs, to decide on applications for church openings. But a lawyer who has handled cases for some defendants said the commission “never responds” to Protestants' requests.

Today, a source close to the president of the EPA confirmed that contacts with the Ministry of the Interior have never been completely severed. “We are in the process of fulfilling all the authorities’ requirements to allow us to reopen our churches,” this source assured. While waiting for a response from the administration, some faithful try to find alternatives by organizing prayers in garages or isolated homes.

But the authorities leave nothing unchecked, and many Protestants find themselves prosecuted in court. Since 2020, the president of the EPA, Pastor Salah Chalah, has himself been sentenced on appeal to six months in prison with a suspended sentence. He has filed an appeal to the Supreme Court, Algeria’s highest judicial authority, which is expected to rule on his case in the coming weeks.

His vice president, Youssef Ourahmane, associated with the church in Oran (West), was sentenced to one year in prison. These restrictions even affect administrators of social media pages, some of whom have been convicted. The Algerian government has repeatedly cited “non-compliance with regulations” to justify these closures.

Compliance issue?

The EPA has existed since 1974 and has steadily grown in number of faithful in recent decades. Its premises in downtown Algiers still exist, and its leaders said it complied with Algerian law. However, its status has remained ambiguous since the 2006 law.

Despite a “loosening of repression in recent months,” as confirmed by a source very close to Pastor Salah Chalah, many Protestants hide to pray or no longer display their religious identity. Beyond government repression, they also face increasing intolerance in Algerian society, especially in some regions where these new converts—most of whom are former Muslims—are looked down upon, according to Dalila, who is relieved that in her village, “people [now] accept us” after a difficult beginning.

Elsewhere in the country, the authorities seem to be showing more tolerance toward the Catholic Church. Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers was recently received by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, and some Masses, celebrated on major religious holidays such as Pentecost at the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa or the Sacred Heart in downtown Algiers, are broadcast live by the French-speaking channel of Algerian public radio.

Its basilicas and diocesan centers continue to operate normally in the country, although some religious institution leaders regret not being able to expand beyond historical places of worship.

*Name has been changed.