Algeria–Holy See relations the Holy See and allowed Roman Catholic priests to continue ministering to the remaining Catholics in Algeria. Although Islam is the state religion of Algeria, the Holy See has maintained a comparatively good relationship with the Algerian authorities, with Léon-Étienne Duval being famously recognized as the "bishop of Muslims" after the departure of French colonists. The Algerian state has sought to clearly distinguish between the Catholic religion, which is licit in Algeria with limitations to proselytism, and between Evangelical sects, which are officially forbidden and legally repressed by state powers. However, since a 2006 law limited religious worship to government-approved
Multilateral foreign policy of the Holy See and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practise self-denial, to be alongside the suffering." The Holy See underlined that responsible parenthood entails responsibility and demands discipline and self-restrain, particularly in the area of sexual behavior. The Holy See opposed efforts to endorse Family planning methods which separate what, in its view, are the two essential dimensions of human sexuality: the transmission of life and the loving care of parents. At the Cairo Conference, the Holy See opposed the term "family planning services" which encompass sterilization, since it was