Pope Leo XIV returns to Rome on Thursday following an 11-day, four-nation voyage across Africa. The tour, which took him from Algeria in the north to Angola in the south and Cameroon in between, concluded with a farewell ceremony at the Malabo airport in Equatorial Guinea.
During the visit, the first American pope called for peace, unity, and dialogue while criticizing corruption, inequality, and despotism. He urged global leaders to put people first and decried violations of international law by neocolonial global powers.
Leo XIV made some of his most forthright comments since becoming pope last year, specifically denouncing war in the Middle East. These stances sparked a feud with U.S. President Donald Trump over the war in Iran. While the pope responded assertively to the president's criticism, he grew uncomfortable with how those criticisms were interpreted.