Pope Leo XIV is set to embark on a 10-day tour of Africa beginning on 13 April, the Vatican has confirmed. The visit will be his first pastoral journey to the continent since becoming head of the Catholic Church.
The papal itinerary includes stops in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. The tour will run from 13 to 23 April.
In Cameroon, the Pope is scheduled to visit the political capital Yaoundé, the commercial centre Douala, and Bamenda, an Anglophone city located in the country’s conflict-affected Northwest region, where separatist violence has persisted for nearly a decade.
The visit to Algeria will be historic, marking the first time a pontiff has travelled to the predominantly Muslim nation. In December, Pope Leo publicly expressed his wish to visit Africa and specifically referenced Algeria because of its association with St Augustine of Hippo, who was born in what is now Algerian territory. Pope Leo is a member of the Augustinian religious order and has previously emphasised the importance of interfaith dialogue in North Africa.
Although this will be his first official pastoral mission to Africa as pope, Leo is familiar with the continent. Before his election, he travelled widely across Africa as Cardinal Robert Prevost, including visits to Kenya and Tanzania.
The decision to prioritise Africa reflects the region’s increasing significance within the Catholic Church. Around one-fifth of Catholics worldwide now live on the continent, making it one of the fastest-growing centres of the faith.
In January, Fridolin Ambongo, the Archbishop of Kinshasa and president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, suggested that a papal visit was imminent. Speaking to Vatican News after meeting Pope Leo, he said papal visits to crisis-hit countries often aim to offer encouragement to people enduring hardship.
The Africa tour follows Pope Leo’s first overseas trip late last year, when he travelled to Turkey and Lebanon, calling for peace and reconciliation across the Middle East.
The most recent papal visit to Africa occurred in February 2023, when his predecessor, Pope Francis, travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan.
While the Vatican has yet to publish the Pope’s full programme, Vatican News reports that the journey will include stops in Algiers and Annaba in Algeria; Yaoundé, Bamenda and Douala in Cameroon; Luanda, Muxima and Saurimo in Angola; and Malabo, Mongomo and Bata in Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking country on the African continent.
