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Pope Leo XIV is set to begin a significant tour of Africa on Monday, marking his fourth international journey since assuming the papacy in 2025. This visit highlights Africa’s burgeoning role within the Catholic Church, as the continent experiences rapid growth in its Catholic population.
Though Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and a country where many have suffered for their religious beliefs, is absent from the itinerary, the visit kicks off in Algeria, a predominantly Muslim nation.
Dubbed “A Pilgrim in Africa” by the Vatican, this tour will focus on key issues such as peace, migration, environmental stewardship, youth empowerment, and family dynamics. Throughout his journey, Pope Leo XIV is slated to deliver 25 speeches in French, English, Portuguese, and Spanish, the continent’s major languages.
Pope Leo XIV is scheduled to arrive in Algeria on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Fateh Guidoum/AP)
Observers and religious leaders emphasize the profound significance of this visit. “The Holy Father is engaging with the African church as part of the global church community,” remarked Rev. Daniel Male, secretary of the Union of Augustinian Friars of Africa, in an interview with the Religion News Service. He noted that Pope Leo XIV is acknowledging the vitality and expansion of African churches while underscoring the church’s commitment to supporting the impoverished and marginalized.
The Catholic OSV News added the visit “highlights peace efforts, the works of mercy, and the Catholic Church’s vibrant presence on the continent.”
The National Catholic Register stated that in 1910 Africa was home to less than 1 million Catholics. The latest figures available for 2024 estimate there are now 288 million.
Thousands of Catholics greeted Pope Francis when he visited Kinshasa, Congo, in Feb, 2023. (Jerome Delay/AP Photo)
Commenting on his absence from Nigeria, Frans Cronje, African-based analyst at the Yorktown Foundation for Freedom, told Fox News Digital “Given Nigeria’s role as the epicenter of the terror threat faced by Africa’s Christians, it will be disappointing to many of them to learn that the pope has left that country off his Africa agenda. The country has become ground zero for the global Islamist terror threat.”
Pope Leo XIV delivers the Urbi et Orbi blessing — Latin for “to the city of Rome and to the world” — from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica at the end of Easter Mass he presided over in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)
The pontiff must be invited to a country by the host government. Analysts say that the government of Nigeria may feel a papal visit may be too sensitive at this time. But the Nigerian government did not respond to requests for comment on this issue by Fox News Digital.
Details of the trip include:
Algeria: April 13 to April 15
The Vatican’s yearbook for 2025, the Annuario Pontificio, states Catholics number 8,740 out of a population of 46–48 million. The pope is believed to be coming to Algeria to visit the ancient city of Hippo, now called Annaba. The city was home to St. Augustine, the ‘doctor of the church.’ Pope Leo is the first pontiff to belong to the Augustinian Order.
He is also expected to emphasize interfaith dialogue with Islam when he visits the Great Mosque of Algiers. This is one of the biggest in the world, capable of accommodating up to 120,000 people.
Algeria prepares for visit of Pope Leo XIV (Fateh Guidoum/AP Photo)
The 2026 Open Doors World Watch List placed Algeria in the 20th position for Christian persecution. It said 47 churches of the Protestant Church of Algeria (EPA) have been closed by the authorities.
The Associated Press reported that Algerian authorities rejected a Vatican request for Leo to visit to Médéa to pray at the Tibhirine monastery, the place where seven French Trappist monks were kidnapped and killed May 21, 1996, by Islamic extremists during the country’s civil war.
Cameroon: April 15 to April 18
The Catholic EWTN organization reports that Catholics make up between 30% and 35% of the population of some 30 million.
The pope will preside over five public Masses and addresses in three cities. He will also meet with vulnerable children at the Ngul Zamba Orphanage in the capital city of Yaoundé.
A local sits beneath hanging Catholic devotional scarves and banners, including images of Our Lady of Fatima, Jesus Christ and Pope Leo XIV, outside Our Lady of Fatima Parish, a church identified by Catholic officials as one of the sites expected to be visited by Pope Leo XIV during a planned trip to the country, in Luanda, Angola, April 12, 2026 (Cesar Muginga/ Reuters)
Angola: April 18 to April 21
In the latest government census, some 56% of Angola’s population identified as being Catholic.
The most significant part of the pope’s visit to Angola is expected to be when he goes to the town of Muxima, where he will pray at a shrine to the Virgin Mary, known locally as “Mama Muxima”, or “mother of the heart.” This is said to be the spiritual home for many Angolans, drawing over two million pilgrims to visit it every year.
Pope Leo XIV will visit Angola in April 2026. (Marco Longari/AFP via Getty Images)
Equatorial Guinea: April 21 to April 23
The Vatican has stated that approximately 80% of the population of Equatorial Guinea are Catholic. Leo will hold several Masses and addresses, and will visit a new psychiatric hospital and a prison. The Jean Pierre Olie Psychiatric Hospital in Sampaka, Malabo, was only inaugurated in December and is the country’s first modern specialized mental health facility. It collaborates with France’s Hospital Saint-Anne in Paris.
 In a potentially controversial move, the pope will also visit a prison in Bata notorious for reports of inmate torture and abuse.
The Vatican did not respond to Fox News Digital questions by press time.