Pope Leo XIV is preparing for a landmark journey across Africa, a multi-country tour that Vatican officials say will combine pastoral outreach with pointed appeals for peace, reconciliation and social justice.

The pontiff is scheduled to visit Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea, where he will celebrate multiple public masses and deliver a series of speeches aimed at communities scarred by conflict, inequality and political tension. Vatican aides describe the trip as a deliberate effort to place Africa at the center of the Church’s global agenda.

The tour will open in Algiers, where Pope Leo XIV is expected to become the first pope to set foot in the predominantly Muslim nation. He will meet President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and preside over mass at the hilltop Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, a 19th-century sanctuary overlooking the Mediterranean that has long symbolized coexistence between Christians and Muslims. Church officials say the pope will highlight interfaith dialogue and the shared responsibility of religious leaders to counter extremism.

From Algeria, the pope will travel to Cameroon, a country grappling with a protracted separatist conflict in its English-speaking regions. In the restive city of Bamenda, he is expected to issue one of the tour’s strongest appeals, urging armed groups and government forces to embrace negotiations, protect civilians and respect humanitarian law. Local bishops hope his presence will lend fresh momentum to stalled peace efforts.

In Angola, Pope Leo XIV will turn his attention to social justice. Meetings in Luanda with political leaders, diplomats and civil society representatives are expected to focus on corruption, youth unemployment and disputes over oil and mineral wealth. The pope is scheduled to visit parishes, schools and community projects that work with the urban poor, underlining the Church’s call for transparent governance and fair distribution of resources.

The final leg in Equatorial Guinea will take him to Malabo, Mongomo and Bata. There he will meet clergy and lay leaders, visit a technology school serving disadvantaged students and pray at a memorial for victims of a deadly 2021 explosion. Vatican officials say the stop is intended to honor suffering communities while encouraging investment in education and reconciliation.

The journey, one of the most ambitious of his pontificate, signals a renewed Vatican commitment to Africa’s rapidly growing Catholic population and to the continent’s struggles for peace, dignity and shared prosperity.