An Interesting Note About Latin Christianity in North Africa in the 11th Century

St. Augustine of Hippo

We tend to think about Latin Christianity coming to an end in North Africa when the Arabs invaded in the 7th Century.  However, that’s an overly simplistic way of putting it.  For example, Donald Trump took the office of President in January 2017 but did anything really change in America?  Not really.  People just went about their lives.

Obviously the analogy is not perfect.  Once Islamic jurisprudence developed later on, things would become hard for the Christians living under Islamic rule.  There is a good chance that Latin Christianity continued to thrive in the major centers like Carthage for hundreds of years.

On September 15, 1073 AD Pope Gregory wrote a letter to the Church in Carthage.  The letter was not addressed to the Archbishop of Carthage but to the clergy and the laity of the city.  In this letter we learn that the Christians of Carthage are rebelling against their Archbishop, throwing vicious accusations at him, and trying to hand him over to the Saracen authorities.

The letter of Pope Gregory ends somewhat aggressively when he says:

I admonish and command you by my apostolic authority that, as the foul stench of your audacity and your unheard-of wickedness have brought deep sadness to our heart, so the sweet savor of your repentance and amendment may turn our heart to gladness.  But if you fail to do this, I will smite you with the sword of anathema according to law and will proclaim the curse of St. Peter and of our self upon you.

Pretty harsh words by the Pope here.  Obviously he thought that the people were being unreasonable in what they were doing to their Archbishop.  I think this letter shows a lot.  The Church in Carthage was in a position where they were willing to give their Archbishop to the Saracen authorities.  Would a Church that’s on the brink of extinction do this?  I’m guessing not.  The only way that this would happen is if it was a somewhat comfortable Christian community.  Probably something similar to how the Coptic people are in Alexandria today.  A minority but a significant minority.

The Church in Carthage was not Donatist or Arian, but Catholic.  Being Catholic it had support systems in Europe whereas the Donatists and Arians didn’t.  This is probably the reason that Catholicism lasted longer in this region than their heretical counterparts.  That and the fact that their theology was more sound and Biblical.

What brought this Church to an end?  Judging what I know from history, it was the Almohad Caliphate.  They were known for being extremely harsh to Christian and Jewish communities.  This was the case in Almohad Spain as well since the great Jewish scholar Moses Maimonides had to flee for his life out of Almohad territory.  I don’t know if this wiped the Latin Christians out, but it certainly would have done severe damage to their already diminished community.

This is an area that I am in the midst of starting research in.  This post is my hypothesis of how Latin Christianity ended in North Africa.  The Almohad Caliphate, plain and simple.  If it weren’t for them, there would probably still be millions of them similar to there are Copts in Egypt.