According to reports, the Holy Father plans to visit the Central African nation of Angola as part of a multi-nation African tour in 2026.
Invited by both the Angolan bishops and the country’s President João Lourenço, the timeline has not yet been set for his visit, nor has it been confirmed by the Vatican.
Angola is just over 40% Roman Catholic and just under 40% Protestant.
Pope Leo XIV has indicated that he would visit the African continent in 2026, specifically mentioning Algeria, the land of his spiritual father, St. Augustine. It is expected that an Africa trip would be the first apostolic journey this year.
Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon have reportedly also been discussed as potential stops. It's not certain if one trip would include all the stops or there would be more than one journey.
Not a first
Prior to his election as pope, Pope Leo already visited Africa many times. In his time leading the Augustinians, he made various journeys there.
His last visit to Kenya occurred in December 2024. He also visited Algeria, Nigeria, Tanzania, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Pope's representative in the nation, Apostolic Nuncio to Angola Archbishop Kryspin Witold Dubiel, said to the press:
I hope that the Holy Father’s visit will be an opportunity to rediscover the values that have shaped the Angolan people and to share these values with the diverse communities that live and work around the world.
The second most populous officially Portuguese-speaking country after Brazil (and before Portugal), Angola declared independence from Portugal in 1975.
The capital city of Luanda, however, traces its founding back 450 years to 1576.
The Archbishop of Luanda, Filomeno do Nascimento Vieira Dias, said a possible papal trip would thus occur during this year's “grand jubilee of Luanda – 450 years as a city, 450 years celebrating the faith.”
Luanda, like other parts of the country, has a difficult priest-to faithful ratio, with some 14,445 persons per priest.
Priest to faithful ratio: Comparison
Milan's average is 2,086.
The small diocese of Wichita, Kansas, which has the highest rate of new priests in the USA, has an average of just 933 Catholics per priest.
The Archdiocese of Mexico has 3,481.
Kinshasa in Democratic Republic of Congo has 10,352 faithful per priest.
Angola's Catholic history
Catholicism in Angola has its roots in Portuguese missionary presence, starting in the late 15th century. Jesuits, Franciscans, and Dominicans all established missions in what is now the country of Angola and practice of the Catholic faith spread. Angola is now home to 20 Roman Catholic dioceses.
Archbishop José Manuel Imbamba of Angola’s Saurimo Archdiocese invited Angolans to be part of the process of preparing to receive the Holy Father by taking part in committees that will be formed to plan.
The last papal visit to the nation occurred in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI visited seven years after a decades-long civil war.
During that visit, Pope Benedict shared:
“It is to preach this message of forgiveness, hope and new life in Christ that I have come to Africa… Dear friends, this is the message that the Pope is bringing to you and your children. You have received power from the Holy Spirit to be the builders of a better tomorrow for your beloved country. In Baptism you were given the Spirit in order to be heralds of God’s Kingdom of truth and life, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace.”
