Tunisia's Christian Heritage includes the Famous Martyrs of Carthage

Tunis will witness the consecration of the first elected Anglican diocesan bishop of North Africa

By David W. Virtue in Tunis

www.virtueonline.org

May 8, 2025

TUNIS, Tunisia – Despite its predominantly Muslim population the African country of Tunisia is deeply rooted in Christianity going back to St. Augustine. Its rich heritage dates back centuries.  The legacy of ancient Carthage and the Christian martyrs under Valerian were a group including Montanus, Lucius, Flavian, Julian, Victoricus, Primolus, Rhenus, and Donatian. All were executed during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Valerian in 259 AD. Their feast day is February 24.  Carthage continues to shape its spiritual identity.

Among the more famous martyrs are Felicitas and Perpetua, two women brought to the amphitheater on March 7, 203 A.D., and faced punishment and death for following Christ.

Tunisia has been called the “Pearl of the Mediterranean.” It overlooks the entire Mediterranean Sea and is like a beautiful window to the desert.

The country borders on Algeria, Libya, and the Mediterranean Sea. It was the home of the Star Wars. The North African country was the filming location for the first six Star Wars movies, with sets still visible in the desert.

Tunis will also be the scene of the consecration of the Rev. Canon Dr. Ashley Null. It will be a momentous occasion for the Anglican Communion.  Dr. Null will be the second Anglican diocesan bishop of North Africa but the first elected Anglican diocesan bishop of North Africa.  His predecessor was appointed. Notable attendees include the former Archbishop of Jos, Nigeria, Benjamin Kwashi, and Anthony Poggo, a South Sudanese Anglican bishop who has been the secretary general of the Anglican Consultative Council and head of the Anglican Communion.

Before Null, all the Anglican bishops of North Africa were area bishops (i.e., suffragan or assistant bishops) appointed by and under the authority of the diocesan bishop of Egypt. This is a game changer. Null will come under the authority of the new Archbishop of Alexandria Samy Fawzy Shehata, an Egyptian Anglican bishop. He is the second archbishop and primate of the Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria, the 41st province of the Anglican Communion.

Dr. Null stands in the line of St. Augustine of Hippo, Algeria. The Anglican Communion has an Anglican Church in Algeria. The first Anglican Church in Algiers was consecrated in 1870. The current congregation is Holy Trinity Anglican Church in Algiers.

Many believe that Christianity is a new religion that came from the West. But roundabout 200 A.D. there was a vibrant church here, said American William Brown who has lived here for 22 years. He pastors the Reformed Church of Tunisia.

Carthage, which is just down the road, serves as a significant center of early Christian thought and home to influential church fathers.

American-born Frank Bernardi, a priest who pastors St. George's Anglican Church in Tunis points to Carthage as an important center of Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries—a thriving hub for the faith that served as the seat of the Christian Church for all of North Africa.

"What it produced was this really significant, what I like to call, high-octane church, that had a reputation throughout the world because of how serious they took their faith, and how willing they were to die for their faith," Bernardi told CBN News.

Bernardi says Tunisia's spiritual legacy is not only in ancient ruins but also in the memories of martyrs and theologians.

History has it that Tertullian, a Tunisian lawyer who came to Christ, came up with new vocabulary to try and explain Christian concepts. So even the word 'trinity' originally came from him."

Augustine, who was not from Carthage but was from modern-day Algeria, came over and was a teacher here.

Rough estimates are that there are about 30,000 Christians today who reside in Tunisia, 80 percent of whom are foreigners. Local Tunisian believers number around 5,000.

Although predominantly Muslim, Tunisia recognizes freedom of religion. Since the Arab Spring uprising almost 14 years ago, the government has embraced more democratic values.

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