Pope Leo begins an ambitious 10-day tour of four countries in Africa on Monday, urging global leaders to address needs on the continent where more than a fifth of the world’s Catholics live.
The first US pope heads to Algeria for two days before continuing to Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea in a whirlwind tour to 11 cities and towns, traversing nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights.
The pope is making the visit with a mission “to help turn the world’s attention to Africa”, Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official and close adviser to Leo, told Reuters.
The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war, has made only one big overseas trip since being elected last May, visiting Turkey and Lebanon in November and December. He visited Monaco in March.
Leo, aged 70, relatively young and in good health for a pope, is undertaking one of the most complicated tours arranged for a pontiff in decades.
More than 20% of the world’s Catholics live in Africa, according to Vatican statistics. The three sub-Saharan nations the pope is visiting have populations where more than half identify as Catholic.
Algeria, though, is an overwhelmingly Muslim country with under 10,000 Catholics among its population of some 48 million people. This is the first time it will host a Catholic pope.