ROME (AP) — The Vatican released on Monday details of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming four-nation Africa tour, suggesting Christian-Muslim relations, comforting victims of violence and encouraging the Catholic community in former European colonies will be key themes.
The April 13-23 trip begins in Algeria, which has never before welcomed a pope. It includes a visit to the Great Mosque in Algiers as well as a meeting with Leo’s fellow Augustinians in the place most associated with St. Augustine of Hippo, the 5th-century inspiration for their religious order.
Leo will preside over a peace meeting in northwest Cameroon, visit an important Marian shrine in Angola and pray at a memorial to victims of a 2021 blast in Equatorial Guinea that killed more than 100 people and was blamed on negligence.
All the while, he’ll meet with local bishops, celebrate Masses for the faithful and have private talks with the four nations’ leaders, two of whom have been in power for decades.
Here’s a look at some of the key stops in each of the countries.
The pope will tour a mosque and meet Catholic faithful in Algeria
Leo has a busy first day in Algiers, meeting with government authorities, touring the mosque and meeting with the local Catholic community.
He’ll later visit Annaba, far to the east on the Algerian coast, formerly known as Hippo, where St. Augustine lived and died in 430, one of the theological and devotional giants of early Christianity. Leo will meet with a community of Augustinian s …