Pope Leo XIV to Make Apostolic Journey to Africa in April 2026

Pope Leo XIV will make his first apostolic journey to Africa from 13 to 23 April. The ten-day tour is eagerly awaited by Africans.

After his very first apostolic trip to Turkey and Lebanon at the end of the Holy Year 2025, and the announcement of his upcoming pastoral visits to Italy, which will take him to Lampedusa, Pope Leo XIV is resuming his apostolic travels around the world.

Responding to invitations from the relevant state and ecclesiastical authorities, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV will make an apostolic journey to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea from 13 to 23 April. This announcement, made on 25 February in the Holy See Press Office, confirmed the three upcoming apostolic journeys for the first half of 2026.

The Pope will visit Algiers and Annaba from 13 to 15 April; Yaoundé, Bamenda and Douala from 15 to 18 April; to Luanda, Muxima and Saurimo from 18 to 21 April; and to Malabo, Mongomo and Bata from 21 to 23 April.

The Holy Father’s upcoming apostolic tour also includes six days in Spain, between Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, from 6 to 12 June, preceded by a day in Monte Carlo on 28 March.

A pastor who cares deeply about the challenges and hopes of his people

The longest tour, from 13 to 23 April, just after Easter, will first take him in the footsteps of St Augustine in Algeria, to Algiers and Annaba (Constantia-Hippo).

The Pope will then travel to Central Africa, stopping in Cameroon where he will visit the cities of Yaoundé, Douala and Bamenda in the north of the country.

He will proceed to Southern Africa, staying in Luanda, Muxima and Saurimo, in Angola.

The last stop will be Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking country on the continent, but where French is the second official language. The Pope will visit the cities of Malabo, Mongomo and Bata.

This journey to the ‘Cradle of Humanity’ is that of a pastor visiting his people, but this time as the ‘Successor of Peter’, carrying in his heart the challenges and hopes of his people.

SECAM News, with Vaticannews