Pope Leo XIV Four Nations, 11 days Trip to Africa It is so astonishing in its complexity that it is reminiscent of some of the epics of Saint John Paul II of his early years.
Among the topics Liu is expected to raise are coexistence between Christians and Muslims, overexploitation of natural and human resources in the region, corruption and immigration.
Here’s a destination-by-destination overview and itinerary highlights:
the Algeria The stop clearly holds the utmost personal significance for Leo, given him Relations with Saint Augustinean inspiration to his religious sect, who lived and died there. Leo will visit Annaba, the current Hippopotamus, where the saint was a bishop in the fifth century.
Immigration and coexistence between Christians and Muslims are expected to be other major topics in Algeria, a former French colony with a majority Sunni Muslim population located on the Mediterranean coast of North Africa. Liu will pay tribute to the migrants who were killed in shipwrecks while trying to reach Europe and will visit the Grand Mosque in Algiers.
Last year, Algerian lawmakers voted in favor Declaration of the colonization of France Considered a crime, the North African country has approved a law calling for the return of property seized by France during its 130-year rule, among other demands seeking to right historical wrongs.
Among the highlights of Liu’s visit to Cameroon is the “peace meeting” that he will chair in the northwestern city of Bamenda on April 16, which will witness the testimony of a traditional Mancun leader, a Presbyterian mediator, an imam and a Catholic nun.
The western regions were in Cameroon Suffering from combat Since Anglophone separatists launched an insurgency in 2017 with the stated aim of separating from the French-speaking majority and establishing an independent Anglophone state. The conflict led to deaths More than 6,000 people have been killed and more than 600,000 displaced, according to the International Crisis Group, a think tank.
The country is also reeling from fighting involving Boko Haram militants in the north, as the Islamist extremist group’s insurgency in neighboring Nigeria has spread to Cameroon.
Cameroon has large reserves of oil, natural gas, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamonds. The extractive sector represents nearly a third of the country’s exports, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.
But rights groups and the Catholic Church have raised the alarm that extraction revenues rarely reach rural and indigenous communities who live near mining and drilling operations, while foreign companies and a small national elite capture most of the profits.
While French and English companies have long dominated Cameroon’s extraction industry, Chinese companies have moved heavily into the country in recent years, especially in gold mining areas in the east.
Last year, UN experts reported serious human rights and environmental damage caused by the use of mercury in gold mining operations in eastern Cameroon.
The gold rush in eastern Cameroon has also led to hundreds of children leaving school to prospect for gold, risking their lives in makeshift mines for $1 worth of raw ore sold on the local black market, according to UNICEF.
In Angola, where Catholics make up about 58% of the population, Leo will pray at the Shrine of Mama Muxima, a Marian shrine that has become one of the most important Catholic pilgrimage sites in Angola.
The church was first built at the end of the 16th century by the Portuguese after they established a castle in Moxema. It became a major point in the Portuguese transatlantic human trade as a place where slaves were baptized before being sent on ships to the Americas.
Today, Angola is the fourth largest oil producer in Africa and among the 20 largest producers in the world, according to the International Energy Agency. It is also the third largest diamond producer in the world and has large deposits of gold and other very important minerals.
But despite its diverse natural resources, the World Bank estimated in 2023 that more than 30% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day.
The country of about 38 million people gained independence from Portugal in 1975, but still bears the scars of a devastating civil war that began immediately after independence and continued on and off for 27 years before finally ending in 2002. More than half a million people are believed to have been killed.
The Vatican said that Leo will address young people in Angola in particular to offer them a message of hope and healing.
The discovery of offshore oil in the mid-1990s transformed Equatorial Guinea’s economy almost overnight, with oil now accounting for nearly half of its gross domestic product and more than 90% of its exports, according to the African Development Bank.
However, more than half of the authoritarian petro-state’s population still lives in poverty, the World Bank reported last year.
The former Spanish colony is run by Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa’s longest-serving ruler, who has been in power since 1979 and is accused of committing terrorist crimes. The spread of corruption and tyranny.
Several rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, have documented how the revenues have enriched Obiang’s ruling family rather than the wider population, with at least 70% of the country’s nearly 2 million people living in poverty.
It also faces the country’s government Widespread accusations Harassment, arrest, and intimidation of political opponents, critics, and journalists.
In addition to the negative impacts of extractive industries, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that Liu would raise issues of corruption and the appropriate role of governing authorities during the trip.
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