Pope Leo XIV will embark on his first pastoral visit to Africa from April 13 to April 23, 2026.
The 10-day tour is aimed at urging global leaders to address the needs of the continent, where more than a fifth of the world’s Catholics live, in what will be his first major overseas trip of 2026.
Over the course of the visit, the Pontiff will travel nearly 18,000 kilometres (11,185 miles) across 11 cities and towns in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. The packed itinerary includes 18 flights.
“Pope Leo XIV is undertaking the visit with a mission to help turn the world’s attention to Africa,” according to Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official and close adviser to the Pope.
Czerny said; “By heading to Africa so early in his pontificate, the Pope shows that Africa matters.
“Leo wants to make sure that Africa is not forgotten by countries and people caught up in their own concerns.”
Vatican officials and African Church leaders say “the upcoming tour is a personal priority for Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S. pope, and a reflection of the Church’s emphasis on Africa, where Catholicism is growing fastest.”
According to Vatican statistics, more than 20 per cent of the world’s Catholics live on the continent, with three of the countries on the Pope’s itinerary recording Catholic majorities.
Equatorial Guinea, which has not hosted a papal visit since 1982, is more than 70 per cent Catholic. Algeria, meanwhile, is an overwhelmingly Muslim country with fewer than 10,000 Catholics among a population of about 48 million.
Popes have made pastoral visits to Africa since the late 1960s, and Pope Leo XIV’s trip will be the 24th such visit by a leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church.
“The African Church is vibrant and alive, full of vocations to the religious life and priesthood,” said Rev. Mark Francis, a U.S. priest and longtime friend of the Pope since the 1970s.
Reuters/Shakirat Sadiq