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4d ago

Pope Leo Sets 10-Day Africa Tour to Urge Action on Peace and Dialogue

The Vatican casts the four-nation trip as a bid to turn global attention to a fast-growing Catholic heartland.

Crowds cheer as Pope Francis arrives at Kololo airstrip in Kampala, November 28, 2015. Pope Francis left Kenya for Uganda where he will spend two days before continuing on to Central African Republic, a country wracked by sectarian conflict. REUTERS/Giuseppe Cacace/Pool/File Photo
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Overview

  • Leo will visit Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea on a packed route covering 11 cities and 18 flights over 10 days.
  • In Algeria he plans a stop at the Great Mosque of Algiers to advance Catholic–Muslim dialogue, with a visit to Annaba linked to St. Augustine’s legacy.
  • In Cameroon he is set to lead a meeting for peace in Bamenda, a center of the Anglophone conflict that has killed thousands since 2017.
  • The itinerary includes a prayer in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, at the site of 2021 military barracks explosions that killed more than 100 people.
  • Vatican aides call the trip a personal priority for Leo and say Africa now accounts for over 20% of Catholics, making this the 24th papal visit to the continent since 1969.