Good morning everyone, I hope you are all rested and ready for this next leg of our trip!

I am happy to greet you all this morning, after what I personally consider to have been a very blessed trip and visit to Algeria. I want to begin by expressing a word of gratitude to all the authorities in Algeria, who made this visit possible. As you see, they have even given us the full honor of an escort as we fly over Algerian airspace. It is a sign of the goodness, generosity and respect that the Algerian people and Algerian government have wished to show the Holy See and to myself. I want to say a word of thanks to them, as well as to the very small but very significant presence of the Catholic Church in Algeria.

We made, as you know, some very special visits, to both the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa and to the Basilica of Saint Augustine, located on the hill overlooking the modern city of Annaba as well as the ruins of the Roman city of Hippo. That in itself, I would say, is symbolically significant because Saint Augustine, who was bishop of Hippo for more than thirty years, is a figure that is very much from the past and speaks to us of tradition and speaks of the life of the Church as it grew in the early centuries. And yet he is still a very important figure today as his writings, teachings, spirituality, invitation to search for God and for the truth is something that is very much needed today; a message that is very real for all of us today, as believers in Jesus Christ, but also for all people.

As you have seen, even the people of Algeria, the vast majority of whom are not Christian, very much honor and respect the memory of Saint Augustine as one of the great sons of their land. It was a special blessing for me, personally, to return once again to Annaba yesterday, but also to offer to the Church and the world the vision that Saint Augustine offers us, in terms of that search for God and the struggle to build community, to seek unity among all peoples and a respect for all peoples in spite of differences.

In these two days in Algeria, I think we have really had a wonderful opportunity to continue building bridges and promoting dialogue. I think the visit to the mosque was significant and to say that although we have different beliefs, different ways of worshiping, and different ways of living, we can live together in peace. And so I think that to promote this kind of image is something the world needs to hear today, and that together we can continue to offer it through our witness as we continue on this Apostolic Voyage.

Have a wonderful trip. Good to see you all. Thank you for your service once again. Thank you!