Leo XIV in Algeria and Sub-Saharan Africa from 13 to 23 April
The Holy See has officially announced the pontiff's trip, which includes Algeria (the capital Algiers and Annaba, Saint Augustine’s ancient city of Hippo) as well as Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. Algeria’s bishops are delighted that a pontiff will visit a country that has also seen Christian martyrs in recent years. For Bishop Carraro of Oran, a PIME missionary, this “visit encourages us”.
Milan (AsiaNews) – Pope Leo XIV will make a visit Algeria from 13 to 15 April before travelling to sub-Saharan Africa. For the country’s four bishops, “It is with great joy and gratitude that we welcome the official announcement of Pope Leo XIV's visit to Algeria, in response to the invitation of the country's highest authorities. This dream, expressed on several occasions, of a pope visiting Algeria has become a reality”.
This follows a statement released today by the Holy See Press Office: “Welcoming the invitations of the respective Heads of 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. His Holiness will visit Algiers and Annaba from 13 to 15 April; Yaoundé, Bamenda and Douala from 15 to 18 April; Luanda, Muxima and Saurimo from 18 to 21 April; and Malabo, Mongomo and Bata from 21 to 23 April.”
While countries like Cameroon and Angola have already been the destination of an apostolic journey, some several times, and Equatorial Guinea was already visited by Pope John Paul II in 1982, this is an absolute first for Algeria.
“Pope Leo," the bishops write, "will naturally come to the land of Saint Augustine, which he has already visited twice as Superior General of the Order of Saint Augustine. He will also come to the land of the nineteen members of the Catholic Church beatified on 8 December 2018. Above all, he will come to visit contemporary Algeria, a land where North and South, East and West, West and the Arab-Muslim world meet."
For Bishop Davide Carraro of Oran, a PIME missionary, “This is a great joy and an honour for us to welcome the pope. This visit encourages us and shows us the great attention of the universal Church towards our small local church of Algeria."
“North Africa has given three popes to the universal Church, and now a pope is coming for the first time to visit the Church of Algeria,” said the Bishop of Constantine, Michel Guillaud, who will welcome Pope Leo in Annaba, the ancient Hippo, where Saint Augustine served as bishop.
His memory and the relevance of his thought and testimony will be at the heart of this visit. Moreover, the pope, presenting himself on the loggia of St Peter's, described himself as a "son of Augustine”.
As superior of the Order, he had already travelled to Annaba twice: in 2001, for a conference on the holy theologian, and in 2013 for the inauguration of the restored basilica.
The day of “8 May, the day the Pope was elected," notes the Archbishop of Algiers, Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco, "is the liturgical feast of the blessed martyrs of Algeria. That same day, I invited him to come to our country. And shortly thereafter, the invitation of the Algerian authorities also followed. And so, this visit is finally taking place."
The chosen motto – “Peace be with you” – were the first words spoken by Leo, when he introduced himself to the crowd in St Peter's Square in Rome.
“We are guided by these words. And by his constant call for peace, ‘a disarmed and disarming peace’, which evokes a prayer by the prior of Tibhirine, Christian de Chergé. I believe the pope is deeply influenced by Algeria.
“On the Algerian side, however, the bond with Saint Augustine represents a strong element of identity, capable of speaking to this people, proud of their history and culture, despite being almost exclusively Muslim.”
The visit will span two days. The first will be in Algiers, where the pontiff will meet with the authorities, the population, and finally the small Christian community in one of the Church's symbolic places, the Basilica of Notre Dame d'Afrique.
The second day will be entirely dedicated to Annaba-Hippo, with Mass celebrated in the Basilica of Saint Augustine (pictured), a visit to the ruins of the ancient city of Hippo, and a visit to the elderly at the Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home.
Travelling to sub-Saharan Africa
On the morning of 15 April, Pope Leo will fly to Yaoundé, Cameroon. In the central African country, he will also visit Douala, the country's economic capital, and, more surprisingly, Bamenda, in the northwest, a region ravaged since 2013 by a terrible (and totally "forgotten") conflict that has resulted in thousands of deaths and nearly half a million internally displaced people.
Douala and especially Bamenda are traditionally considered areas of political opposition to the now 40-year government of Paul Biya, who came to power in 1982 and was re-elected amid much controversy in October last year.
The announcement of Pope Leo's visit "has sparked great enthusiasm and talk," reads a statement issued by the Archdiocese of Bamenda, which emphasises that this visit "is expected to focus on strengthening the faith of Cameroon's Catholics, on promoting peace, and on addressing the country's humanitarian crisis.”
After Angola, where he will visit the cities of Muxima and Saurimo, as well as the capital Luanda from 18 to 21 April, Pope Leo’s final stop in his African journey will be Equatorial Guinea, where another "political dinosaur" is waiting for him.
Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has been in power uninterruptedly since 3 August 1979. In this country, the pontiff will visit the old capital, Malabo, as well as the cities of Mongomo and Bata from 21 to 23 April.
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