Pope Leo XIV visits the retirement home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Annaba, Algeria, April 14, 2026. ANDREW MEDICHINI/REUTERS
Around Leo XIV, nobody knew. The atmosphere was hushed, the protocol meticulously organized. From the Maqam Echahid (Martyrs' Memorial) to the Notre-Dame d'Afrique basilica via the Great Mosque of Algiers, the stages of the inaugural day of the pope's historic first visit to Algeria unfolded as planned on Monday, April 13, the procession flanked by streams of police officers clad in white rain ponchos under a drizzly sky.
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Pope's first day in Algeria marred by failed suicide attack near Algiers
No one was aware of the twin suicide attacks that shook Blida, about 40 kilometers from the Algerian capital, that morning. There were two deaths: the two terrorists, who set off their explosive vests prematurely. Several people were wounded. It was nothing spectacular: Algeria endured far worse during the Black Decade of the 1990s, now a distant memory. But the symbolism of the attack, which targeted a police station on the sidelines of the pope's visit, was powerful. Such an event had to be erased from the official narrative of an Algeria regaining its international standing and being honored by the presence of the Vatican leader.
