Pope Leo XIV to highlight needs on 10-day Africa tour

Pope Leo XIV will soon undertake a sweeping 18,000-kilometre journey through Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, a packed itinerary that includes 11 speeches and seven masses before his return on 23 April. The trip is designed to spotlight some of the world’s most urgent concerns — from conflict and migration to corruption and human rights — against a backdrop of uncertainty tied to the Middle East war.

Leo will make history as the first pope to visit Algeria, where Islam is the state religion. His programme includes a meeting with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, a stop at the Great Mosque of Algiers, and a pilgrimage to Annaba, the hometown of Saint Augustine, to meet members of the Augustinian order. He is also expected to honour migrants who died in shipwrecks while attempting the perilous crossing to Europe.

In Cameroon, the pontiff is set to prioritize appeals for peace and reconciliation, with particular attention to the conflict-hit, English-speaking northwest. In Angola, he is expected to confront the twin challenges of poverty and corruption in a nation rich in oil and minerals but scarred by stark inequality after a civil war that ended in 2002. The tour concludes in Equatorial Guinea, where Pope Leo will meet President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979.