Pope Leo XIV Plans Historic Four-Nation African Journey This April

The Vatican has announced Pope Leo XIV's upcoming 10-day tour of four African nations from April 13-23, marking his first visit to Algeria. The pontiff will focus on interfaith dialogue, peace efforts, and supporting Catholic communities in former European colonies.

The Vatican announced Monday the itinerary for Pope Leo XIV’s historic 10-day journey across four African nations, highlighting themes of interfaith cooperation, supporting violence victims, and strengthening Catholic communities in former colonial territories.

The pontiff’s April 13-23 expedition will mark the first papal visit ever to Algeria, featuring a stop at Algiers’ Great Mosque and a gathering with fellow Augustinian clergy in the birthplace of St. Augustine of Hippo, the 5th-century saint who inspired their religious community.

During his travels, Leo XIV will conduct a peace conference in northwestern Cameroon, visit a significant Marian sanctuary in Angola, and offer prayers at a memorial honoring victims of a devastating 2021 explosion in Equatorial Guinea that claimed over 100 lives due to alleged negligence.

Throughout the journey, the Pope will conduct meetings with regional bishops, hold Mass services for believers, and engage in private discussions with leaders from all four countries, including two who have governed for multiple decades.

The following highlights key destinations in each nation:

Leo’s opening day in Algiers includes meetings with government officials, a mosque tour, and gathering with the local Catholic population.

He will subsequently travel to Annaba, located on Algeria’s eastern coastline and formerly called Hippo, where St. Augustine resided until his death in 430. This theological pioneer of early Christianity left a lasting legacy that Leo will honor by meeting with Augustinian religious communities and exploring archaeological remains.

The pontiff will also conduct Mass at the capital’s basilica dedicated to St. Augustine.

Leo’s second destination is Cameroon, previously visited by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. His itinerary includes the capital Yaoundé, the commercial center Douala, and Bamenda, a prominent city in the North-West region.

Western Cameroon has experienced ongoing violence since English-speaking separatists began an uprising in 2017, seeking to establish an independent English-speaking nation separate from the French-speaking majority. This conflict has resulted in over 6,000 deaths and displaced more than 600,000 residents, according to International Crisis Group data.

A major highlight of Leo’s visit will be a “peace meeting” he will oversee in Bamenda on April 16, though participant details remain undisclosed.

The nation also faces violence from Boko Haram militants in northern regions, as the Islamic extremist organization’s Nigerian insurgency has extended into Cameroonian territory.

Some Cameroonians worry the papal visit might be exploited by the country’s leadership following a contested presidential election.

Cameroonian Jesuit priest and opposition figure Ludovic Lado shared his concerns with Leo through a public letter, cautioning that the visit might be “interpreted as an implicit form of endorsement of a discredited and illegitimate government.”

The nation’s 92-year-old President Paul Biya, who has held power for 42 years, was declared victorious in October’s presidential race, earning another seven-year term. However, his primary opponent, former government spokesperson Issa Tchiroma Bakary, continues asserting his rightful claim to victory.

The Pope’s Angola visit takes him to a former Portuguese territory in southern Africa with a predominantly Christian population. Catholicism represents the largest religious group in this Portuguese-speaking nation of approximately 38 million residents, reflecting the former colonial power’s influence.

Angola achieved independence from Portugal in 1975 but immediately descended into an extended and devastating civil war that concluded in 2002.

The Pope will tour the capital Luanda, the town of Muxima, and the city of Saurimo.

In Muxima, the pontiff will visit the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, a Marian shrine within the Church of Our Lady of Muxima that has evolved into one of Angola’s most significant Catholic pilgrimage destinations.

Portuguese colonizers originally constructed the church around the late 16th century after establishing a fortress at Muxima. It became a crucial location in the Portuguese trans-Atlantic slave trade, serving as a baptism site for enslaved individuals before their forced transport to the Americas.

Leo’s concluding destination is Equatorial Guinea, which maintains one of Africa’s highest Catholic population percentages, with approximately 70% of its 1.9 million citizens practicing the faith. This reflects its Spanish colonial heritage, as the Catholic Church remains a powerful and influential institution in this Central African nation.

Though officially secular, Catholic Mass ceremonies are incorporated into state functions, including Independence Day observances.

Leo’s visit to the country, only the second following Pope St. John Paul II’s 1982 tour, will encompass three of the nation’s five dioceses in Malabo, the capital, plus Bata and Mongomo.

In Bata, Leo will visit with incarcerated individuals and pray at the memorial honoring victims of a 2021 military barracks explosion that killed more than 100 people. The blasts resulted from careless dynamite handling at a barracks near residential neighborhoods.

Equatorial Guinea has been governed by Africa’s longest-serving president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has maintained power since 1982 and faces accusations of operating an authoritarian government.

Catholics in Equatorial Guinea endured severe persecution under former President Francisco Macías Nguema, who shuttered churches in 1975 and officially prohibited the Catholic Church in 1978. Nguema sought to eliminate colonial influences. This decree was overturned when Teodoro assumed power through a coup.

Despite the country’s oil and gas-driven economy, at least 57% of the population lives in poverty, according to World Bank statistics.