During his eleven-day trip to Africa, Pope Leo XIV will also visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Pope Leo XIV has commenced his landmark visit to Algeria in the first trip to the North African country, which has Muslims as majority of its population, by a pontiff.
The Head of the Catholic Church landed in Algeria on Monday 13 April, 2026, according to a journalist of the AFP News Agency travelling aboard the papal plane.
Pope Leo, born in the United States (US), is expected to pay tribute to victims of Algeria’s war of independence from France (1954-1962) later in the day.
The Pontiff, seventy (70) years of age, is calling on world leaders to address the needs of Africa, where a huge number of Catholics live.
According to Vatican Statistics, Africa is home to more than a fifth of the world’s Catholics.
However, Algeria, a massively Muslim nation with a population of around 47,000,000, has fewer than 10,000 among its people. This has emerged the first time the country will welcome a Catholic Pope.
Jean-Paul Vesco, Archbishop of Algiers, told AFP, the trip is targeted at continuing to “build bridges between the Christian and Muslim worlds”.
After staying in Algeria for two (2) days, Pope Leo will head to Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea in a tour of eleven (11) cities and towns, traversing nearly 18,000km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights.
The three (3) sub-saharan countries the Sovereign of the Vatican City State is visiting have populations where more than half identify as Catholic.
Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Africa is the 24th by a pope to the continent since the late 1960s.
The Bishop of Rome is expected to speak on many topics in twenty-five (25) premeditated speeches in eleven (11) days, Matteo Bruni, Spox of the Vatican, disclosed to journalists on Friday.
Topics the Pope is likely to touch on encompass, exploitation of natural resources, Catholic-Muslim dialogue, and dangers of political corruption, Bruni further disclosed.
Itinerary for Monday includes a visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers – with the world’s highest minaret – and the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, overlooking the Bay of Algiers.
According to the Vatican, the Pope will talk about corruption in often authoritarian regimes and the role of Political leaders. Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea have Presidents who have held power for decades.
Photo: Pope Leo XIV delivers prayer at St. Peter’s Square at Vatican on Sunday 12 April, 2027 before his trip to Africa | Gregorio Borgia/AP
