Leo XIV in North and Central Africa

I hope I am wrong, but I think that the church in Africa will look very much like the church in the West by the end of this century.

Over 11 days and four countries, Leo showed how he embodies the spiritual, prophetic, pastoral and symbolic dimensions of the papal office.

NCR's Vatican correspondent Justin McLellan stuck to pen and paper to record his impressions of traveling through North and Central with Pope Leo XIV. 

The Leo Chronicles: Leo, back from Africa, gives a shout-out to a predecessor.

Pope Leo XIV's missionary experience in Peru was the love of his life, and in Africa we witnessed the pope's joy in proclaiming the Gospel and in witnessing the reception the Gospel receives.

"I am convinced the Holy Father's visit and his call for peace touched everyone, including separatist fighters and government officials," Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo said.

"I think that the topic can cause more disunity than unity, and that we should look for ways to build our unity on Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ teaches," Pope Leo XIV told journalists on the flight back to Rome from Equatorial Guinea.

"As a pastor, I cannot be in favor of war," Pope Leo XIV said about the war in Iran during his airborne press conference upon his return trip to Rome.

Pope Leo XIV told inmates at one of Equatorial Guinea's notorious prisons on Wednesday that they are not alone, as he delivered a message of hope during a visit that drew attention to prison conditions, human rights abuses and injustices that campaigners have denounced for years here.

Occult practices are common in Angola's far-flung villages and throughout rural sub-Saharan Africa and weigh heavily in the everyday lives of many Africans throughout most of the continent, presenting a significant obstacle to church outreach in the region.

His pivot from theological reflection to a moral diagnosis of concrete political realities is emblematic of the bridge he has sought to build between Catholic teaching and lived experience. 

En route to Equatorial Guinea from Angola to inaugurate the final leg of his four-nation tour through Africa, Pope Leo XIV praised the example of his predecessor whom he remembered for "truly living out closeness to the most poor." 

Pope Leo XIV's visit to an African church linked to slavery reflects on his own complex heritage
 

"Leo has started to shed the soft-spoken reputation, raising his voice with a newfound fervor to decry the corruption and violence plaguing much of the African continent in messages that have rippled worldwide," writes NCR's Justin McLellan.

In Africa, Leo has shared a stage with authoritarian leaders and, at their own invitation, admonished aspects of their governance. It is precisely because the pope is not a politician that he can operate in such a way.

The pope celebrated his first large Mass in Africa, calling out those who "lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it."

 "It is a good fortune to be a small church in service of the kingdom of God," said Cardinal Cristóbal López Romero of Rabat, Morocco.

After nearly a decade of violence in the Anglophone region of Cameroon, women religious and residents say Pope Leo XIV's visit could help extend a temporary truce and revive hopes for reconciliation.

In his homily in Annaba, Algeria, Leo held out the saint as a model for renewal in the church and the world and said the doctor of the church is revered "for his conversion even more than for his wisdom."

Arriving in Algeria, Pope Leo XIV stepped into uncharted territory for a pope, becoming the first leader of the Catholic Church to visit Algeria and bringing with him a message of reconciliation, justice and unity.

The Leo Chronicles: Gabby helps Pope Leo prepare for his trip to Africa. 

Pope Leo XIV told reporters en route to Algeria that he has "no fear of the Trump administration," hours after President Donald Trump lodged a vicious attack on the pontiff via social media.

Pope Leo XIV’s four-nation, 11-day trip to Africa is so dizzying in its complexity it recalls some of the globetrotting odysseys of St. John Paul II in his early years. Themes Leo is expected to raise include Christian-Muslim coexistence, the over-exploitation of the region's natural and human resources, corruption and migration.

Of the four nations Pope Leo XIV will visit during his trip to Africa, Cameroon and Angola have been particularly impacted by the cuts to USAID operations which began at the start of President Trump's second term.

"[St.] Augustine was a bridge-builder and Leo sees himself also as a bridge-builder, so going back to Hippo is really him enacting what is important to him in a symbolic gesture," said Augustinian Fr. Kevin De Prinzio. 

Pope Leo XIV's 10-day itinerary through Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea is a pilgrimage and a statement of priority. These countries are all "laboratories" of the church's lived experience in Africa.

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.

Nearly a year into a pontificate largely anchored in Rome, Pope Leo XIV is preparing to launch a sweeping series of international trips that will carry him across Africa, to Spain and to the tiny principality of Monaco. 

Cameroon’s possible inclusion in the itinerary of Pope Leo XIV’s first African trip is drawing growing debate, as security concerns, political tensions and moral objections raise questions about whether the country is ready for a papal visit.

Pope Leo XIV has expressed interest in visiting Algeria, a trip that would mark the first papal visit to the North African nation and highlight its small but symbolically significant Catholic community rooted in dialogue with Islam.

The Vatican has not officially confirmed the visit, but if the trip goes forward it would mark Leo's first visit to Africa as pope and could be his first international journey of the year.