(RNS) — Pope Leo XIV arrived in Algeria on Monday (April 13), bringing attention to its little-known interfaith organizations and efforts that have been functioning discretely for many years. They help comprise a unique manifestation of faith in a country — Africa’s largest in area — where fewer than 1% of the nation’s nearly 48 million people are Christian. One is the Focolare movement, a spiritual unity network that came to Muslim-majority Algeria in 1966. Modeled after an Italian lay Catholic movement, its activities are animated by Muslim members, mostly women, participating in small groups across the country, whether helping at local elderly centers, tutoring students or learning together. The late Chiara Lubich founded Focolare (Italian for “hearth”) in 1943, out of her experience finding community among strangers sheltering underground during bombing raids over Trento, Italy, during World War II. Pope Paul VI recognized it in 1964 as a private, universal association with the formal name “The Work of Mary,” to emphasize dedication to selfless love. The once-local group spread worldwide under Lubich’s charismatic influence. …