Pope dey bring message of unity and peace as e visit African kontris - pipo tok wetin dem dey expect

On Monday, Pope Leo XIV go start im longest international tour eva, as im dey visit African kontris like Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.

Di Vatican tok say di ten-day tour go draw global attention to Africa.

More dan 20 percent of world Catholics dey live for di continent. Vatican sources describe di African Church as 'vibrant and alive'.

Di Catholic population for Africa dey expand fast dan anywia else for di world, according to figures by di Vatican.

Dis visit na piority for Pope Leo.

Di first stop na Algeria, wey be kontri wit small Catholic community, but di place get significant place for Christian history.

Algeria na di birth place of theologian and philosopher Saint Augustine, wey im legacy dey deeply woven into di Pope Augustinian Order.

Dis na di first time wey papal visit go happun for di kontri and some key themes of di visit to di North African kontri go be dialogue wit Islamic world and migration across di Mediterranean.

As sign say e dey committed to inter-faith dialogue, di Pope go visit Great Mosque of Algiers.

"Na such a pleasure, as e go help strengthen di ties between di two religions, wey get common history," Algiers resident Marwa Melki tok.

While for di capital, di Pope go also address di Catholic community for Basilica of Our Lady of Africa.

"Wetin I dey expect from di Pope... na man wey go encourage us again in our faith and mission to build new world. A world wia peace dey and wia pipo dey live togeda for harmony," Father Peter Claver Cough, wey be di rector of di basilica, tok.

Di visit dey come as rights groups express dia concern ova Algeria treatment of religious minorities.

Algeria get predominantly Sunni Muslim population. For di past, Algerian courts don lock up Christians and Ahmadi Muslims for wetin dem call "unauthorised worship" or offence to Islam.

For one press statement, Human Rights Watch tok say religious minorities "dey face discriminatory legal and administrative restriction wey dey limit dia ability to practice, organise and express dia faith openly".

Dem don raise di plight of refugees and migrants afta dem expel thousands of pipo, including pregnant women and children from di kontri for 2024 and 2025.

Catalyst for reconciliation

For im next stop for Cameroon, di pope tok say e go bring message of peace and unity.

Di kontri, wia Catholics make up almost 40 percent of di population, don see conflict wey don dey go on for almost ten years between di separatist Anglophone areas and di Francophone-dominated govment.

Di UN don estimate say at least 6,000 pipo don die and 500,000 don dey displaced for di conflict.

Di pope go visit Bamenda, di capital of Cameroon northwest region, wey don dey di centre of di conflict.

Here, e go hold mass for peace and justice for Bamenda Airport, wey all faith representatives go dey invited.

Local residents say dem dey hope say di mass fit help bring reconciliation.

"Wit God coming - becos e be God on earth - I know say evritin go dey solved," 45-year-old Ernestine Afanwi tok. Di woman say she run comot from her town afta dem destroy her house and shop.

For di last three years, she and her six children don dey live as Internally Displaced Pipo for di capital Yaoundé.

"If I fit meet di Pope face to face, I go tell am all my problems [and ask] make e anoint di land," she tok.

Di conflicts wey dey happun for Cameroon Anglophone region don get little international attention.

However, di late Pope Francis, wey be Pope Leo predecessor, dey always express concern ova di violence and dey urge di Church make dem pray for dialogue and harmony.

Catholic priests don dey among di pipo wey dem dey target - suspected separatist fighters don kidnap some.

For November 2025, wen dem kidnap six priests and one Baptist pastor, Pope Leo call for dia immediate release.

Ahead of di Pope arrival, pipo don dey call on di govment and di separatists to show good intention for di success of di Holy Father mission.

Professor Willibroad Dze-Ngwa, wey be ogbonge historian and peace and conflict analyst, don urge Cameroon President Paul Biya to pardon and release all political prisoners, especially pipo wey dey linked wit di ongoing conflict.

"Di pope na symbol of hope, global symbol of peace and reconciliation," e tok.

"So, I tink say im visit suppose coincide wit dis release, so e go dey meaningful to both di Pope, di President of di Republic... and of course, pipo wey dem don lock up."

Dis visit no be di first time Cameroon don host di pope.

Pope John Paul II don visit di kontri two times - for 1985 and 1995 - and Pope Benedict XVI visit for 2009.

Many pipo for di Central African nation dey see Pope Leo visit as chance to evaluate di state of di church and im role for society.

As e go visit di restive Anglophone region, Pope Leo go hold masses for di capital Yaoundé and for di largest city, Douala.

From Cameroon, di pope go travel go Angola and den to im final destination, Equatorial Guinea.

Both Angola and Equatorial Guinea get majority of Catholic population.