Vatican has announced that Pope Leo will visit four African countries from April 13 to 23, marking his first major overseas trip of 2026 and placing the world’s fastest-growing Catholic region at the centre of his early papacy.
The pontiff will travel to Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. Vatican officials expect large crowds and say the pope will urge world leaders to back development efforts while promoting Catholic-Muslim dialogue.
The announcement underscores what Church insiders describe as a clear priority for Africa, home to about 20% of the world’s Catholics.
Leo, elected in May to succeed the late Pope Francis, has made just one foreign journey so far — a visit to Turkey and Lebanon late last year that had originally been planned for his predecessor.
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Vatican officials and African Church leaders say the upcoming tour reflects the continent’s growing weight within global Catholicism.
Reverend Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator, a Nigerian Jesuit and former regional superior, said the visit would remind the world that Africa remains central to a thriving global Church, despite economic and political pressures facing many of its nations.
First Pope to Visit Algeria
The Algeria leg of the tour will make history. The North African nation, overwhelmingly Muslim and home to only a few thousand Catholics among its 47 million people, has never hosted a pope.
Leo, a member of the Augustinian order, has expressed personal interest in visiting the country because St Augustine of Hippo, one of Christianity’s most influential theologians, was born in what is now Algerian territory.
In Angola and Cameroon, Leo will follow the path of Pope Benedict XVI, who visited both countries in 2009. Equatorial Guinea last received a papal visit in 1982, when Pope John Paul II toured parts of Africa.
The last papal visit to Africa took place in early 2023, when Pope Francis travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan.
In Kinshasa, Francis condemned violence in eastern Congo and criticised the exploitation of Africa’s natural resources. In Juba, he described his journey as a “pilgrimage of peace”, urging leaders to honour fragile peace agreements after years of civil war.
That visit reinforced the Vatican’s diplomatic focus on conflict resolution and social justice — themes expected to shape Leo’s upcoming tour.
Before heading to Africa, Leo will make a one-day stop in Monaco on March 28. He is also scheduled to visit Spain from June 6 to 12, including the Canary Islands, a key arrival point for migrants attempting to reach Europe.
Later in 2026, he is expected to travel to Peru, where he served for decades as a missionary and bishop.
Africa’s Catholic population is expanding faster than any other region. Seminaries are full, congregations are growing and Church influence remains strong in education and healthcare.
By making Africa his first major overseas destination of 2026, Pope Leo is signalling that the future of Catholicism will be shaped as much in Algiers, Luanda and Yaoundé as in Rome.
The April tour will test how the new pope balances spiritual leadership with diplomatic engagement — and whether his message on development, dialogue and stability resonates across a continent that the Vatican increasingly views as pivotal to the Church’s global future.
