Pope Leo XIV kicks off African tour in Algeria amid tension with President Donald Trump

• Pope Leo XIV will be visiting four African countries: Algeria, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Angola
  

• The African tour is part of his effort to promote global peace
  

• The Pope has recently been in the headlines over some clashes with US President Donald Trump.

On April 13, 2025, His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, landed in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, where President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received him. The visit to the North African country kicks off the Pope's 10-day visit to Africa.

During his trip, the Pope will visit Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea.

This is Pope Leo XIV's first visit to Africa after he was elected to lead the Catholic church in May 2025, following the passing of Pope Francis in April 2025. During his visit to Africa, the Pope will be interacting with the Catholic communities, Christians, and leaders with the purpose of promoting global peace.

While Nigeria didn't make the short list of countries the Pope will be visiting, His Holiness had previously visited the country a decade ago, before he was elected as the Head of the Catholic Church. In 2016, then known as Bishop Robert Prevost, travelled to Abuja in 2016 as part of his work with the Order of St. Augustine.

Pope Leo's African tour comes at a moment when global attention is on the Papacy over his recent clash with American President Donald Trump. Earlier in April 2026, The Free Press reported that the White House had "summoned" the Vatican representative in the country, Cardinal Christophe Pierre. However, both the Vatican and the Pentagon denied that the meeting got heated or that the US referred to the "Avignon" Invocation to threaten the Papacy.

While White House might have insisted on a cordial relationship with the Vatican, President Trump hasn't shied away from sharing his views on Pope Leo's foreign policy stance. On April 13, Trump shared a strongly worded post on Truth Social where he berated the Pope for being soft on crime.

"I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela, a Country that was sending massive amounts of Drugs into the United States and, even worse, emptying their prisons, including murderers, drug dealers, and killers, into our Country," Trump said regaring the Pope's criticism of American action in Iran and the capturing of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Trump further went on to say Pope Leo was elected to lead the catholic church because he is the President.

"He wasn’t on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump. If I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican."

The American President added that the Pope should stay out of politics and focus on leading the catholic church.

"Leo should get his act together as Pope, use Common Sense, stop catering to the Radical Left, and focus on being a Great Pope, not a Politician. It’s hurting him very badly and, more importantly, it’s hurting the Catholic Church!"

In response, Pope Leo XIV, while speaking with the press on his way to Algeria, shared that he is not afraid of Trump, whom he accuses of abusing the gospel.

"I am not a politician; I have no intention of entering into a debate with him. Rather, let us always seek peace and put an end to wars. I am not afraid of the Trump administration. I speak about the Gospel; I am not a politician. I do not think the message of the Gospel should be abused in the way some people are doing. I will continue to speak out loudly against war, to try to promote peace, multilateral dialogue between states, and to seek the right solution to problems."

The tensions between President Trump and the Vatican is the latest in the fallout that has followed the American-Israeli conflict against Iran.