Henri Teissier: Some parties seek to harass Christians in Algeria

Algiers-Former Algeria Bishop, Henri Teissier, called upon the authorities to apply the principle of reciprocity in granting visas to priests who visit Algeria for serving Christians, as it did for Imams who travel to France to serve Muslims there.

Teissier said, on the sidelines of the forum Malik bin Nabi in Telemcen, west of Algeria, that the Algerian authorities have not granted a visa of this kind since five years, i.e. since 2006, the date of the law on religious rites for non-Muslims.

Former Algeria bishop added that harassment by authorities started before he retired. He accuses an unnamed party of trying to crush the Christian community in Algeria, and denied that there is a particular nationality which is excluded from these harassments by Algeria on granting visas, although this is not related to a large number of individuals.