Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Angola for Landmark African Tour

Pope Leo XIV is set to arrive in Angola on Saturday, April 18, 2026, marking the third leg of his landmark 11-day African tour that began on April 13 and includes stops in Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. The visit represents the pope’s first apostolic journey to Africa and comes amid an escalating public exchange of criticism with United States President Donald Trump over the Middle East conflict.

Upon his arrival in Luanda, the capital of Angola, Pope Leo XIV is expected to meet President João Lourenço, pray at the Marian shrine of Mama Muxima, and celebrate Mass in the Kilamba district and in Saurimo. The Al Jazeera report notes that billboards bearing the pope’s image have been erected across Luanda to welcome him ahead of his scheduled arrival at 3 p.m. Local time (14:00 GMT).

The pope’s visit to Angola follows a three-day stay in Cameroon, where he celebrated Mass in Bamenda on April 16 and addressed students and faculty at the Catholic Academic Institution of Central Africa (UCAC) in Yaoundé on April 17. During that address, Pope Leo XIV encouraged Catholic university students to let their studies be guided by “the light of faith, joined to the truth of love,” citing the teachings of St. John Henry Newman on the shared pursuit of truth.

Angola, where approximately 44 percent of the population identifies as Catholic, emerged in 2002 from a 27-year civil war that began after independence from Portugal in 1975. The New York Times reports that the pope’s itinerary includes a visit to a Marian shrine where enslaved Africans were baptized before being forced onto transatlantic voyages, highlighting the country’s deep historical ties to the legacy of slavery, and colonialism.

Throughout his African tour, Pope Leo XIV has issued pointed warnings about corruption, the exploitation of Africa’s vast natural resources, and the ethical dangers posed by rapid advancements in artificial intelligence. His calls for global peace have drawn particular attention in Angola, a nation still confronting the long-term effects of conflict and resource-driven inequality.

The timing of the pope’s visit coincides with an intensifying war of words between the Vatican and the White House. While specific details of the exchange were not outlined in the available sources, multiple reports confirm that the papal journey has unfolded alongside an escalating public dispute with President Trump over U.S. Policy in the Middle East, particularly concerning the Israel-Hamas war and related humanitarian concerns.

Pope Leo XIV, the first pontiff born in the United States, is only the third pope to visit Angola, following Pope John Paul II in 1992 and Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. His current journey underscores the Vatican’s renewed diplomatic and pastoral engagement with sub-Saharan Africa, a region home to over 200 million Catholics and increasingly central to the global Church’s future.