Following his first apostolic visit of 2026 to Monaco on March 28 and presiding over Holy Week and Easter events and celebrations, Pope Leo XIV is preparing his final 10 day papal visit In four countries in Africa from 13-23 April.
The pontiff’s first apostolic visit to Africa comes at a time when the continent accounts for about 20% of Catholics worldwide and is experiencing significant growth in priestly vocations.
Here are nine important facts to know about Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Africa:
1. The Pope will visit four countries and 11 cities in 10 days.
Pope Leo will spend 10 days in Africa and visit four countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, stopping in 11 cities in those countries. The Vatican estimates he will travel more than 11,000 miles on 18 separate flights during this single trip, underscoring how demanding modern papal travel has become.
During the trip Leo will celebrate eight public masses and give 24 speeches and sermons. He is expected to speak French in Algeria and Cameroon, Portuguese in Angola and Spanish in Equatorial Guinea as well as English throughout the trip.
2. He follows in the footsteps of other modern popes.
This is Pope Leo’s third international visit and his first apostolic visit to Africa – coming less than a year after his election.
During his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis made five trips to Africa and visited 10 countries. Benedict XVI made two apostolic trips, visiting three countries, and Pope John Paul II made 11 trips to Africa, visiting 41 countries during his 26-year papacy.
Pope Paul VI was the first reigning Pope to visit Africa, when he traveled to Uganda from July 31 to August 2, 1969.
3. Pope Leo’s multilingual talents will be on full display.
Pope Leo speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, and he can read Latin and German, making it very likely that he will use several of these languages during his travels. It is also likely that Arabic will appear in greetings or prepared texts.
according to ACI AfricaA sister service of EWTN News in Africa, the Pope’s Africa itinerary will feature the main languages of the four host countries: Arabic and French in Algeria, English and French in Cameroon, Portuguese in Angola, and Spanish in Equatorial Guinea, the only African country whose official language is Spanish.
4. This is the Pope’s first visit to Algeria.
Pope Leo will become the first Pope in history to visit Algeria, the largest African country where Islam is the state religion. Algeria has about 45 million to 48 million people, but only a few thousand Catholics – often estimated at no more than 10,000, a fraction of 1%. The majority of Catholic immigrants are sub-Saharan African students, migrant workers, diplomats and religious.
5. The visit will shed light on the Pope’s Augustinian connections.
The Algerian leg of the journey deliberately traces the footsteps of St. Augustine of Hippo, linking Pope Leo’s visit to one of the most influential Doctors of the Church who lived and died in North Africa.
He would visit Annaba, a place that underlined his personal devotion to St. Augustine and his Augustinian identity. While there, he will visit the archaeological site of Hippo, meet Augustinian religious, and celebrate mass in the Basilica of St. Augustine, making this first leg of the trip a kind of pilgrimage of faith to his “father,” who describes himself as a “son of St. Augustine.”
6. The Pope will visit a mosque for the second time.
In Algiers, the Pope is scheduled to visit the Great Mosque of Algiers – one of the largest mosques in the world – in a concrete sign of interreligious dialogue. This will be his second visit to a mosque as Pope. During his first international visit in November 2025 he visited the Sultan Ahmed (Blue) Mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye.
7. His journey will be marked by acts of kindness.
The Pope’s visit to Africa will include a number of meetings that will clearly highlight the Church’s works of mercy. These include the Pope’s plan to visit an orphanage and a hospital in Cameroon, a nursing home in Angola, the Little Sisters of the Poor in Algeria and a psychiatric hospital and prison in Equatorial Guinea.
8. A record-breaking garland is expected in Angola.
In Angola, local officials hope to host a record-breaking event Shrine of Our Lady of the Conception of MaximaA Marian shrine in the Viana Diocese of Angola and one of the most important pilgrimage sites in the country. The Pope will lead a public rosary that is expected to be attended by about 2 million pilgrims.
Additionally, this will be the first time a Pope will visit the Maxima Shrine since its founding in 1599.
9. The trip will end with a visit to Equatorial Guinea – one of the smallest countries in Africa.
The final leg of the Pope’s visit will take place in Equatorial Guinea. One of the smallest countries in Africa, it is about the same size as the state of Maryland. About 90% of this country’s population is Catholic, making it one of the most Catholic countries on the African continent.
This small country is welcoming a Pope after 44 years. Pope John Paul II visited Equatorial Guinea in 1982.
Pope Leo plans to visit Bata prison, which has been criticized internationally for its conditions, in a clear sign of concern for prisoners and human rights.
He will also pray at a memorial to the victims of the Bata explosion, a disaster that killed nearly 100 and injured 500, bringing a strong message of consolation and remembrance.
