Dear Algerian brothers and sisters,

Peace be with you! As-salamu alaykum!

I give thanks to God for giving me the opportunity to visit your country as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, after having already done so twice as a spiritual son of Saint Augustine. However, I stand before you first and foremost as a brother who is delighted to be able to renew, through this meeting, the bonds of affection that bring our hearts closer together.

Looking at all of you, I see the face of a strong and young people, whose hospitality and fraternity I have experienced frequently. In the Algerian heart, friendship, trust and solidarity are not merely words, but values that matter and give warmth and strength to your life together.

Algeria is a great country, with a long history rich in traditions, dating back to the time of Saint Augustine and well before. It is also a painful history, marked by periods of violence. Yet, precisely thanks to the nobility of spirit that characterizes you – which I sense is alive even here and now — you have been able to overcome these trials with courage and integrity.

Our presence here at this monument pays tribute to this history of Algeria and to the very spirit of a people who fought for the independence, dignity and sovereignty of this nation.

In this place, let us remember that God desires peace for every nation: a peace that is not merely an absence of conflict, but one that is an expression of justice and dignity. This peace, which allows us to face the future with a reconciled spirit, is possible only through forgiveness. The true struggle for liberation will be definitively won only when peace in our hearts has finally been achieved. I know how difficult it is to forgive. However, as conflicts continue to multiply throughout the world, we cannot add resentment upon resentment, generation after generation.

The future belongs to men and women of peace. In the end, justice will always triumph over injustice, just as violence, despite all appearances, will never have the last word.

In this land, where cultures and religions intersect, mutual respect is the path that enables everyone to walk together. May Algeria, firm in its roots and steadfast in the hope of its young men and women, continue to contribute to stability and dialogue within the international community and along the shores of the Mediterranean.

Every people possesses a unique patrimony of history, culture and faith. Algeria, too, is blessed with this richness, which has sustained it through difficult times and continues to guide it into the future. Faith in God has a central place in your heritage. Indeed, faith illuminates the life of each person, sustains families and inspires a sense of fraternity. A nation that loves God possesses true wealth, and the Algerian people cherish this jewel as one of their treasures. Our world needs believers like this — men and women of faith who thirst for justice and unity. For this reason, in the face of a humanity yearning for fraternity and reconciliation, it is a great gift and a sacred duty for us to declare with conviction that we are always united as brothers and sisters, children of the one God!

There are those who search for riches that fade away, deceive and disappoint, and which sadly often end up corrupting the human heart, giving rise to envy, rivalry and conflict. To these people, Jesus repeats the question that he asked two thousand years ago, “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life?” (Mt 16:26). It is a crucial question for everyone. The dead whom we honor here have already given their answer. They lost their lives but in doing so, they gave them up for the love of their own people. May their example sustain the people of Algeria and all of us on our journey, for true freedom is not merely inherited, it is chosen anew every day.

Allow me, therefore, to conclude by repeating the words of Jesus to his disciples, which we have come to call the Sermon on the Mount or the Beatitudes:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3-10).

Thank you for your warm welcome! May God bless you!