"Algerian prelate speaks of ministry in a Muslim state"

Posted Monday. November 28, 2011.

By catholicculture.org/news/headlines

"Algeria's leading prelate discusses at length the challenges of ministering in an overwhelmingly Muslim state where conversion is punished by fine or imprisonment.

"Only 4,000 of the nation's 34.8 million people are Catholic, according to Vatican statistics.

"[S]aid Archbishop Ghaleb Moussa Abdalla Bader of Algiers The Church is alive, it is present and doing its best for the well - being of its faithful and the country..."

He then elaborates:

"Our first mission is to be there, to live our faith, and to be faithful to our religion and to respect the other faiths despite our differences.

"The Church believes -- and I believe -- that religious freedom is a human right ..."

Way to go, your excellency! :)