In the sign of peace. Pope Leo, after the vigil on Saturday at 6pm in St. Peter’s Basilica, is preparing for his third international trip. And it does so in the name of coexistence, as is clear from the symbol chosen for its first stop in Algeria. In fact, in the logo, inspired by an ancient bas-relief, there are two doves drinking from the same cup. In the center and at the bottom, in the three languages – Arabic, Amazigh and French – the motto, La paix soit avec vous (rendered in Arabic with the greeting Assalamu Alaykom), represents the dialogue and meeting between Christians and Muslimsand is a universal invitation to experience peace, brotherhood and harmonious coexistence.
The first Pope to set foot in the land of Saint Augustine, he will speak about «peace, coexistence, the contribution of Christians, the role of the Church in building a culture of peace», as explained by Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office. Issues that Leo XIV will address not only in Algeria, but also in Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea from 13 to 23 April.
«Four countries that are very different from each other, on a cultural level, by religious tradition, by language», explained Bruni, but in which the themes of reconciliation, interreligious dialogue, the responsibility of governments and civil society, the role of young people, the issues of the environment and integral development, the risk of external exploitation of resources will also be transversal.
In Algeria, “between the desert and the sea”, Leone will meet not only the local community, but also “Christians who come from other African countries: it will be an opportunity for a meeting in a land between the desert and the Mediterranean Sea, which many from Africa cross, to address the Islamic world and talk about coexistence and the contribution that Catholics can bring to it”.
In Algiers, after the welcome ceremony, which will be held one hour later than scheduled, the visit to the Monument of the Maqam Echahid Martyrs, the courtesy visit to the President of the Republic and the institutional meetings with the authorities and civil society. In the afternoon of the 13th, the visit to the Grand Mosque of Algiers and, subsequently, the private visit to the reception and friendship center of the Augustinian missionary nuns in Bab El Oued and the meeting with the Algerian community in the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa.
On Tuesday 14 April the Pope visits the archaeological site of Hippo with a visit to the home for the elderly of the Little Sisters of the Poor. He then presides over the mass in the Basilica of Sant’Agostino. One stop, the one in Algiers, where the Pope will speak 5 speeches recalling the testimonies of Charles de Foucauld and the 19 martyr monks, beatified in 2018 by Pope Francis. In a historical context where the violence of the 1990s caused many Muslim victims, today dialogue and coexistence are practiced. A strong reference will also be made to the Mediterranean as a place of passages and shipwrecks when the Pope listens to interreligious testimonies in the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa and when there will be a moment of reflection at the monument to the victims of the shipwrecks.
In Cameroon, a sort of “Africa in miniature”, the calls will be for hope, reconciliation, justice, peace and responsibility of the rulers with particular reference to fundamentalism and the role of women in civil society. The Pope arrives in Yaoundé on April 15th. After the welcome ceremony there will be a visit to the presidential palace; the meeting with authorities and the diplomatic corps; the visit to the Ngulozamba orphanage; the meeting with the bishops.
On the 16th, in Bamenda, the meeting for peace in the Cathedral of St. Joseph with interreligious and civil testimonies and the mass in which 20 thousand people will participate.
On April 17, however, mass is scheduled at the Japoma Stadium (with around 600,000 people); the visit to the Saint Paul Catholic hospital; the meeting with the university world at the Catholic University of Central Africa.
In Cameroon the Pope will give seven speeches, all in French with the exception of the one in Bamenda.
THEn Angola the topics addressed will be those of peace as personal and community construction; the centrality of youth; the challenges of discouragement, competition and corruption. THEThe Pope will speak in Portuguese.
Finally, in Equatorial Guinea, a country where material and human riches abound, with deeply rooted cultures and traditions, Leone will speak to a country that lives between the continent and the sea. His speeches, all in Spanish, will be seven.
