Pope Makes History with First Visit to Algeria, Land of Saint Augustine

Pope Leo XIV will travel to Algeria on Monday. This is the first time any pope has ever visited the North African nation. The trip highlights Algeria's deep, but often forgotten, Christian history. The country is the birthplace of Saint Augustine, one of Christianity's most important philosophers. Augustine wrote his major works in the fourth century in the city then known as Hippo. That city is now Annaba, Algeria. The Pope's visit is also seen as a significant gesture to Algeria's Muslim majority. It aims to build bridges between the Catholic Church and the Islamic world.