Pope Leo heads to Africa for first major foreign tour

Pope Leo XIV. [AFP] Pope Leo XIV embarks Monday on an 11-day visit to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea for his first major international trip since becoming pontiff last year. From dialogue with Islam to peace efforts, inequality and human rights, the US-born pontiff will address a myriad of issues as he covers more than 18,000 kilometres (11,000 miles) across the African continent. Leo, who took over as head of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics in May, will make 11 speeches, preside over seven masses and visit a dozen locations during the trip which lasts until April 23. The 70-year-old's words and actions, always closely watched, will have even deeper resonance at a time of deep global uncertainty caused by the Middle East war and resulting energy shock. It will be Leo's third trip outside Italy, after Turkey and Lebanon last year, and Monaco in March. Algeria (13-15 April) - Making history Leo will be the first pope to go to the North African country of Algeria, where Islam is the state religion. He will visit the Great Mosque of Algiers and meet with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune. He will also meet members of the Augustinian order to which the pontiff belongs, in Annaba, the one-time home of Saint Augustine. The pope is "a brother who comes to visit his brothers", Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, the archbishop of Algiers, told AFP ahead of the visit. Leo will pray privately in a chapel dedicated to 19 priests and nuns murdered during Algeria's 1992-2002 civil war. Ahead of the visit, three international NGOs called on the pope to raise concerns about the treatment of religious minorities with Algeria's authorities. Cameroon (15-18 April) - Call to peace A call to peace and reconciliation is expected to dominate the pope's visit to majority-Christian Cameroon in central Africa, where the English-speaking northwest has been torn apart by nearly a decade of conflict. The Catholic Church has played a mediating role in the conflict and the centrepiece of Leo's visit will be a speech and mass in Bamenda, the epicentre of the violence, to be held under heavy security. Leo will visit some of the Church's vast network of hospitals, schools and charitable organisations in Cameroon, where about 37 percent of the 30 million inhabitants are Catholic. And he will meet with President Paul Biya, 93, one of the world's longest-serving heads of state who has at times faced criticism from senior Cameroonian clergy over his hold on power. Angola (18-21 April) - Natural resources The visit to Angola, a former Portuguese colony in southern Africa, will be a chance for Leo to expound on social themes dear to his heart. The country is rich in oil and minerals but plagued by poverty, and still scarred by a long civil war that ended in 2002. Leo is expected to emphasise the need for a more equitable distribution of the wealth from natural resources, as well as the fight against corruption. His presence is eagerly awaited by Angolan Catholics, who make up around 44 percent of the population, but some are less enthusiastic. "At the societal level, it represents nothing, because millions of dollars will be taken from the state treasury to prepare, without bringing any benefits to our country," teacher Rosa Kanga, 42, told AFP. Leo will visit the capital Luanda -- where affluent neighbourhoods contrast with vast slums -- but also venture outside. He will go to a centuries-old church on a former slave-trafficking route in the village of Muxima, one of the holiest sites in southern Africa. Equatorial Guinea (21-23 April) - Balancing act Leo's visit to Equatorial Guinea, which has been under iron-fisted rule by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo since 1979, will require a delicate balancing act. Some 80 percent of the two million inhabitants are Catholic, but Jean-Paul II is the only pope to have visited, almost half a century ago. Leo will have to tread carefully between trying to support local Catholics and being seen as endorsing the authoritarian government. Many expect him to deliver a message on human rights and social justice. In Malabo, recently downgraded as the country's capital by presidential decree, giant photos of the pontiff were displayed across the city ahead of Leo's arrival, with national television broadcast adverts about the trip on loop.

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