Church Leaders in Africa Reflect on Papal Leadership in Leonine Era

Church leaders in Africa reflect on papal leadership in Leonine era

While many political observers have been assessing Pope Leo XIV’s first year in the papal office, leading African prelates are warning against such assessments and instead focusing on the place and role of the papacy as one of global moral leadership. In exclusive comments to Crux Now, Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of the Nigerian Diocese of Sokoto said the pope is not driven by term limits’ “first 100 days” metrics or by political manifestos. “The…

Pope Leo XIV Meets Africa

From April 13 to 23, 2026, Pope Leo XIV traveled to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea on his first apostolic journey to Africa. Over the course of 11 days, he took 18 flights and delivered 25 talks, including speeches, homilies and greetings. The pope spoke in four different languages – English, French, Portuguese and Spanish – depending on the official languages of the countries he visited. In Algeria, where the official language …