Pope Leo XIV’s African journey: drawing attention to overlooked crises in North Africa and beyond

As Pope Leo XIV arrives in Algiers on Monday, he begins a significant four-nation journey across Africa that includes stops in Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. The opening leg in Algeria marks the first visit by any pope to the country, home to nearly 50 million people where Christians make up less than 0.2 percent of the population – mostly expatriates and a small local community in a predominantly Muslim society.

The trip carries clear diplomatic and humanitarian weight. It comes at a time when parts of North Africa and the neighboring Sahel receive far less international attention than other global flashpoints. On the eve of departure, during the Regina Caeli prayer, the Pope directly addressed one of the most neglected emergencies: the ongoing conflict in Sudan.

“Next Wednesday marks the third anniversary of the start of the bloodstained conflict in Sudan,” he said. “How much the Sudanese people are suffering, innocent victims of this inhuman tragedy! I renew my fervent appeal to the warring parties to silence their weapons and begin, without preconditions, a sincere dialogue aimed at ending this fratricidal war as soon as possible.” He described Sudan as facing the world’s greatest humanitarian crisis and expressed closeness to its people.

Three years after fighting broke out on 15 April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Sudan’s civil war has created staggering levels of suffering that rarely dominate international headlines. Both parties have committed war crimes and other serious violations of international humanitarian law, making Sudan the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The warring parties’ actions have deliberately targeted civilians, including civil society actors, activists, journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian workers, and human rights defenders, through attacks, harassment, arbitrary detention, and killings.

Estimates of the death toll range from 150,000 to as high as 400,000 when indirect causes are included. Over 11.8 million people have been displaced roughly one in four Sudanese – with about 7.4 million internally displaced and 4.2 million refugees in neighbouring countries such as Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Egypt. Famine has taken hold in parts of Darfur and Kordofan, while 24.6 million people face acute hunger and around 2 million are in famine or at imminent risk. Disease outbreaks like cholera have surged amid collapsed health systems. Reports document widespread sexual violence, including rape and gang rape primarily against women and girls, ethnic massacres, and indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas. In El Fasher, the RSF carried out mass killings of fleeing civilians, widespread sexual violence, and sieges that forced people to survive on animal fodder, with the UN Fact-Finding Mission identifying “hallmarks of genocide.” Both sides have obstructed humanitarian aid, attacked relief workers, and shelled markets, hospitals, and residential neighborhoods.

NGOs call on EU

A joint open letter from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other groups urges the EU to act robustly and strategically for human rights of all those affected by the devastating conflict in Sudan, in particular to prioritize civilian protection, expand the Darfur arms embargo, increase funding, and ensure accountability for atrocities by all parties.

Despite the scale, the conflict often fades from view, overshadowed by other high-profile wars. The Pope’s reference serves as a reminder that these victims risk being entirely forgotten as global attention shifts elsewhere.

Adding to the region’s instability is the persistent and expanding threat of jihadist terrorism spreading from the Sahel. Groups such as Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM, linked to al-Qaeda) and the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) have increased their operations, exploiting weak governance, ethnic tensions, and security vacuums left by withdrawing international forces. The Sahel has accounted for a major share of global terrorism-related deaths in recent years, with JNIM responsible for the majority of incidents in the central areas. Violence has pushed southward toward coastal West African states and northward toward Algeria’s southern borders through trans-Saharan smuggling routes. Algerian officials, mindful of the country’s own violent experiences in the 1990s, treat this instability as a direct security concern and maintain tight border controls. In this environment, calls for dialogue and stability take on added urgency, as unchecked militant activity could further destabilize the corridor between the Sahara and the Mediterranean.

Trump attacks Pope Leo XIV

The Pope’s focus on Sudan comes amid his own tensions with world leaders. President Donald Trump on Sunday sharply criticized Pope Leo XIV, calling him “weak on crime” and “terrible” for foreign policy after the pontiff condemned threats of military force and described diplomacy based on power as unacceptable. Trump stated he is “not a fan” of the Pope and suggested he stop “catering to the Radical Left.” These remarks highlight the broader challenges facing moral appeals for peace in a polarized world.

By launching his African journey in Algeria and explicitly naming Sudan, Pope Leo XIV follows an approach of spotlighting areas that receive limited coverage amid competing global crises, as large parts of North Africa and the Sahel continue to face deep challenges – displacement, hunger, atrocities, and security threats. The papal visit underscores the importance of not allowing these situations to slip entirely out of sight.

Caption: A woman puts flowers during the preparation of the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa the day before Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Algiers, Algeria, 12 April 2026. Pope Leo XIV is undertaking an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa from 13 to 23 April 2026. His itinerary includes visits to Algeria from 13 to 15 April, followed by Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea. EPA/MOHAMED MESSARA