The Vatican announced on Wednesday that Pope Leo XIV will conduct a four-nation African tour between April 13 and 23.
The statement explained that the tour will include Algeria, marking the first-ever visit by a Pope to the country, as well as Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Cameroon. The visit is expected to attract large crowds, during which the Pope is anticipated to call on world leaders to support development efforts on the continent and highlight dialogue between Catholics and Muslims.
Algeria is a majority-Muslim country with a small Catholic community of a few thousand people within a total population of approximately 47 million.
The Vatican also noted that the Pope will make a one-day visit to Monaco on March 28, before traveling to Spain from June 6 to 12, a trip that will include a stop in the Canary Islands.
The African tour comes in the context of the priority the Catholic Church places on the continent, as Vatican statistics indicate that approximately 20% of the world’s Catholics live in Africa.
The last papal visit to Africa was in 2023, when Pope Francis visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. Pope Benedict XVI was the last to visit Angola and Cameroon in 2009, while Pope John Paul II was the last to visit Equatorial Guinea in 1982.
The Pope is also expected to visit Peru in 2026, where he previously served as a missionary and bishop for many years, with suggestions that the visit may take place this coming November.
DzWatch.
