Pope Leo XIV begins historic Algeria pilgrimage on longest Africa trip

Pope Leo XIV stepped into Algeria on the first-ever papal visit to the country, turning the opening leg of his four-nation Africa journey into a pilgrimage shaped by St. Augustine, a tiny Catholic minority and a call for peace in a volatile moment.

The trip, which runs from April 13 to 23 and also includes Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, is the longest apostolic journey Leo has taken so far. Vatican officials said the itinerary will include papal addresses in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, underscoring the breadth of the church’s reach across the continent.

For Leo, Algeria carried unusual personal weight. The Vatican said the visit was not simply commemorative but a symbolic and personal pilgrimage tied to Annaba, the modern city on the site of ancient Hippo, where St. Augustine served as bishop from 395 until his death in 430. That connection gave the Algeria stop a particular meaning for an Augustinian pope visiting a country that helped shape one of Christianity’s most influential theologians.

The Catholic community in Algeria is estimated at only about 8,900 faithful, a stark reminder of how small the church is in a predominantly Muslim country with deep Christian roots. Church leaders said that made the visit especially important, not as a political gesture but as a sign of encouragement to local Catholics who live their faith in a largely non-Christian society.

Leo arrived amid the backdrop of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and after drawing attention for his unusually direct response to President Donald Trump’s criticism. Speaking on the papal flight, he said he had “no fear of the Trump administration” and would continue speaking loudly for the Gospel. Vatican and church officials have cast the wider trip in the same register, with Leo pressing for peace and warning against “neocolonial tendencies” in world affairs.

The message in Algeria was aimed beyond the country’s borders. By opening his longest Africa trip in Hippo’s shadow, Leo linked Augustine’s legacy, the church’s minority presence and his own peace-focused diplomacy into a single, deliberate beginning.