VATICAN CITY - Pope Leo XIV will visit four African nations in April, the Vatican said, including Algeria -- the first time a pope will travel to the North African Muslim nation.
The Vatican announced a series of international trips in the months ahead for the US pontiff, who was elected last year, including to Spain and Monaco.
But the official trip to Algeria, which will see Leo visit Algiers and Annaba from April 13 to 15, will be particularly symbolic.
Islam is the state religion but the constitution guarantees freedom of worship, subject to approval by the authorities for the place of worship and the preacher.
Leo's visit, which is expected to focus on interfaith dialogue, comes 30 years after the beheading of seven French Trappist monks from a monastery during the 1990s civil war.
The US pope said in December a visit to the country would be a chance to deepen "dialogue and bridge-building between the Christian and the Muslim worlds".
Algeria is also the birthplace of the fifth-century St Augustine. The pope belongs to the Augustinian order, which was founded in the 13th century.
St Augustine (354-430), one of Christianity's greatest thinkers, came from the present-day region of Souk Ahras and was bishop of Hippo, now the city of Annaba, in the northeast.
After Algeria, the head of the Catholic Church will visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
Leo will stop off in Yaounde, Bamenda and Douala from April 15 to 18, then Luanda, Muxima and Saurimo between April 18 and 21, before travelling to Malabo, Mongomo and Bata between April 21 and 23.
The pope is likely to appeal for peace and dialogue while in Angola and Cameroon, where long-running separatist struggles continue to kill civilians.
The last papal visit to the African continent was when Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and South Sudan in February 2023.
Before his trip to Africa, the pontiff will visit Monaco for a day, the Vatican said.
The visit to the principality on the French Riviera will take place on March 28 and will be the first papal trip to the city state in modern times.
It will be "a historic moment for Monaco and stand as a strong sign of hope, in a spirit of dialogue, peace, and shared responsibility", a statement from the principality in the name of Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene said.
Leo will also visit Spain from June 6 to 12.
He will first visit the capital Madrid, and then travel to Barcelona, where he will inaugurate the newest and tallest tower of the Sagrada Familia Basilica, the Vatican News website said.