Originally published at The Crux
Read more...
Pope Leo XIV’s four-nation, 11-day trip to Africa is so dizzying in its complexity it recalls some of the globetrotting odysseys of St. John Paul II in his early years.
Themes Leo is expected to raise include Christian-Muslim coexistence, the over-exploitation of the region’s natural and human resources, corruption and migration.
Here’s a country-by-country look at each destination and highlights of the itinerary:
ALGERIA: April 13-15
The Algeria stop clearly carries the most personal importance for Leo, given his ties to St. Augustine, the inspiration of his religious order who lived and died there. Leo will visit Annaba, the modern-day Hippo where the 5th century saint was a bishop.
Migration and Christian-Muslim coexistence are expected to be other top themes in Algeria, a former French colony which is a majority Sunni Muslim nation on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast. Leo will pay homage to migrants killed in shipwrecks trying to reach Europe and will visit the Great Mosque in Algiers.
Last year, Algerian legislators voted to declare France’s colonization of the North African country a crime, approving a law that calls for restitution of property taken by France during its 130-year rule, among other demands seeking to redress historical wrongs.
CAMEROON: April 15-18
One of the highlights
