Aissa: “We Don’t Pressurize Christians And We Reject “Mess” Of Opening Makeshift Churches”

The Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Mohamed Aïssa, called on religious associations active in Algeria to respect the laws setting the conditions and rules for the exercise of religions other than Muslim, stating that freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Algerian Constitution.
“In Algeria, freedom of worship is guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the Republic and is supported and protected by the State, however everyone, including religious associations activating in Algeria, must comply with these laws,” said the minister on the sidelines of the 15th edition of the Algiers International Prize for Recitation of the Holy Quran.
“Since the promulgation of the 2006 law establishing the conditions and rules for the practice of religions other than Muslims, the State has constantly exhorted religious associations operating in Algeria to comply with the laws of the Republic,” he recalled, adding that “many of these associations, including Catholics, have responded to these calls.
Asked about the closure of some Churches, Mr. Aïssa said that “what has been closed are educational establishments, housing or commercial premises transformed, unilaterally by certain associations, into places of worship and not churches in the sense of the law, and this, in parallel with a resurgence of the evangelist movement and external extensions without respect for the laws of the Republic”.
Stressing that the law applies to everyone and that “anyone who refuses to submit to it opens the way to the use of public force to impose it”, the minister said that the law defines the conditions for opening Churches and that Algeria “is sovereign in its decisions despite outside criticism”.
“When a “henhouse” is transformed into a place of worship, it is part of what has been reproached to Ahmadis and extremist groups and also to the passing of some Muslims here and there since the law applies to all and sundry,” said the Minister of Religious Affairs.
“Attention was focused on the fight against the scourges of extremism and terrorism in the name of religion and Algeria was able to defeat terrorism and dry up its sources and is now working to protect itself from it,” concluded Mr. Aïssa.