Pope Leo leaves on Monday for a visit to four countries in Africa, in an ambitious tour to urge global leaders to address the needs of the continent where more than a fifth of the world’s Catholics live on his first major overseas trip of 2026.
Over 10 days from April 13-23, Leo will travel nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) to visit 11 cities and towns in Algeria, Cameroun, Angola and Equatorial Guinea as part of a whirlwind itinerary that includes 18 flights.
The Pope is making the visit with a mission “to help turn the world’s attention to Africa”, Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official and close adviser to Leo, told Reuters.
“By heading to Africa so early in his pontificate, the Pope shows that Africa matters,” Czerny said. “Leo wants to make sure that Africa is not forgotten by countries and people caught up in their own concerns.”
Leo, who in recent weeks has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, has made only one big overseas trip since being elected last May, visiting Turkey and Lebanon in November and December. He visited Monaco in March.
Vatican officials and African Church leaders say the upcoming tour is a personal priority for Leo, the first US Pope, and a sign of the value the Church places on the continent, the place where Catholicism is growing fastest.
More than 20 per cent of the world’s Catholics live on the continent, according to Vatican statistics. Three of the countries Leo is visiting have populations where more than half of the people identify as Catholic.
Equatorial Guinea, which has not been visited by a Pope since 1982, is more than 70 per cent Catholic. Algeria is an overwhelmingly Muslim country with under 10,000 Catholics among its population of some 48 million people.
Popes have dedicated attention to Africa with tours since the late 1960s. Leo’s will be the 24th by a leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church.
“The African Church is vibrant and alive, full of vocations to the religious life and priesthood,” said Rev. Mark Francis, a US Priest and friend of the Pope since the 1970s.
Pope Leo, succeeded the late Pope Francis and is 70, relatively young for a Pope and in good health. He is planning to give 25 speeches over 10 days, as well as holding official meetings with political leaders and local Catholics.
Source: Reuters
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