Nairobi, 15 May, 2025 / 11:47 PM
Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost, the newly elected 267th Pontiff, who has taken the Papal name Leo XIV, is beginning his Papacy with firsthand knowledge of Africa. Unlike his predecessors, Pope Leo XIV has already been to Eastern, Western, Southern, Northern, and Central Africa in person. As he begins his Pontificate, he has been in Kenya at least six times and in neighbouring Tanzania more than five times.
In modern history, Pope St. Paul VI is acclaimed to have been the first Roman Pontiff to set foot on the African soil. As Giovanni Battista Cardinal Montini, he was part of the 1962 pilgrimage to Africa, reportedly visiting multiple African nations, including Ghana, Sudan, Kenya, Congo, Rhodesia (parts of Zambia and Zimbabwe), South Africa, and Nigeria. This one-time visit before his election as Pope in June 1963 could not accord him firsthand knowledge. As Roman Pontiff, Pope St. Paul VI arrived in the East African nation of Uganda on 31 July 1969. The Italian-born Pontiff, whose Papacy ended in August 1978 when he passed on is reported to have said, “For the first time (in) history, the Successor of Peter as Vicar of Christ sets foot upon the soil of Africa”.
His immediate successor, Pope St. John Paul II, made his first-ever African trip in May 1980, visiting six countries in a span of 11 days – the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then Zaire), Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Ghana, Burkina Faso (then Upper Volta), and the Ivory Coast. In his just over 26-year Pontificate, the native of Poland made 16 trips to Africa, visiting some 43 African countries.
In his eight-year Pontificate between April 2005 and February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI made two trips to Africa, first in March 2009, when he visited Cameroon and Angola. Later in November 2011, he visited the West African nation of Benin, where he presented the Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Church in Africa in service to reconciliation, justice and peace, Africae Munus, the final document of the Second African Synod.
On his part, the late Pope Francis made five pastoral trips to Africa during which he visited 10 countries. His maiden visit to the world's second largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases, was a three-nation trip, starting off in Kenya, then to Uganda, and on to the Central African Republic (CAR). The late Pontiff last trip to Africa was in South Sudan in February 2023 in what was a two-nation visit that kicked off in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The late Pope Francis, who passed on Easter Monday, April 21, aged 88 also visited Egypt in April 2017 and in March 2019, Morrocco. In September 2019, he realized another three African-nation trip in Mozambique, Madagascar, and Mauritius.
Pope Leo XIV and East Africa
While the people of God in Africa will be looking forward to his visit as the Roman Pontiff whenever that will be planned, Pope Leo XIV will be traveling to a familiar territory.
The 69-year-old American-born member of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA) has visited the East African nation of Kenya at least half a dozen times, the Regional Vicar of OSA members in Kenya has said, the latest visit having taken place in December 2024.
“All the years I can remember he visited Kenya are: 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011 and 2024,” Fr. Robert Karanja Ireri has told ACI Africa, and explained, “Pope Leo XIV was the Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine from 2001 to 2013. He served for two terms (6 years each term). As the Prior General, he is expected to visit all Augustinian communities directly or through his delegates.”
Fr. Karanja further explained that “Kenya was special” during Pope Leo XIV’s tenure as OSA Superior General because as a "Delegation" at the time, the East African nation “was under our general Curia in Rome thus he was the major superior of Kenya for twelve years.”
In the May 12 interview with ACI Africa, the Kenyan OSA Regional Vicar went on to highlight the purpose of some of the visits to Kenya.
In October 2005, he said, Pope Leo XIV “came to take part in the ordination of three Kenyan Augustinian Deacons and to open the Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centre for HIV at Sacred Heart Babadogo Catholic Parish (Nairobi Archdiocese) run by Augustinians.”
“This building was a Jubilee project for the Order of St. Augustine as they celebrated 750 years since it's foundation. He opened the new building together with the Archbishop of Nairobi, the Late Raphael Ndingi Mwana Anzeki,” Fr. Karanja added.
He also recalled that Pope Leo XIV visited Kenya in October 2006 “for the celebration of the Augustinian Jubilee”.
The OSA Prior General travelled out of Nairobi “and visited Augustinian Sisters and Augustinian missions in Ishiara” in Kenya’s Catholic Diocese of Embu, Fr. Karanja recalled, adding that “on 8 October 2006, he (now Pope Leo XIV) received my Solemn Profession together with three of my confreres at Babadogo during the Augustinian Jubilee Mass.”
The Kenyan Augustinian Priest also recalled Pope Leo XIV’s 2011 visit to Kenya, when he presided over the official opening of “the new Nursery block at Babadogo Sacred heart Catholic school (Nairobi Archdiocese), for which he had assisted to raise funds.”
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While he recalled that Pope Leo XIV “made visits to various Augustinian communities in Kenya” during the 2011 trip, Fr. Karanja confessed that he could not “remember the particular dates and how many communities he visited.”
However, the new Pontiff’s last visit to Kenya in December 2024 is fresh on Fr. Karanja’s mind. Pope Leo XIV, he told ACI Africa, arrived in Nairobi on 9 December 2024 ahead of the consecration and dedication of the new chapel at Augustinian International House of Theology in Karen, Nairobi.
“The Mass for consecration took place on 10 December 2025 and the same day I drove him to the airport in the evening,” the OSA Regional Vicar in Kenya recalled.
He added, “We invited him because he was the one who brought the idea of having a common theological formation house for all Augustinians in Africa. He was involved in the process of getting funds and initiating the project and left to his successor to continue.”
In the May 12 interview, Fr. Karanja also recalled that Pope Leo XIV had visited the neighbouring Tanzania, confirming the country’s Daily News report that he had visited the East African nation multiple times.
The report has Bishop Stephano Lameck Musomba, a Tanzanian-born OSA member, recalling his encounters with Pope XIV, his confrere, both in Tanzania and in Rome.
“He was my Superior and received my vows, so I know him well. I have great hopes for his leadership and all that he will undertake,” the recently installed Bishop of Tanzania’s newest Diocese of Bagamoyo has been quoted as saying.
Bishop Musomba recalled that in his multiple visits to Tanzania as OSA Prior General, the then Fr. Robert Prevost travelled to meet Augustinians in the country, including Mahanje Formation House in Tanzania’s Archdiocese of Songea and on to the country’s Morogoro Diocese, covering some 750kilometres by road.
“He arrived and visited several places. Later, when he returned, I was still in Songea. We got into the same car, which he drove himself and went to Morogoro, where he received the perpetual vows of three of our sisters (nuns) on August 28, 2003,” Bishop Musomba has been quoted as telling Daily News in Tanzania.
The Tanzania Catholic Bishop also recalled staying with Pope Leo XIV, then Fr. Robert Prevost, in Rome from 2004 to 2008, while studying at the Augustinian University in Rome.
Pope Leo XIV and South Africa
Some members of the Augustinian Sisters of the Mercy of Jesus (AMJ) in South Africa have recalled their interaction with Pope Leo XIV, then Fr. Robert Francis Prevost when he visited the Southern African nation.
In a May 11 interview with the Communication Office of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference (SACBC), four AMJ members based in KwaZulu-Natal shared their excitement following the election of Pope Leo XIV.
“He was quiet; a man of few words. But when he asked you something, you felt seen. He was deeply compassionate and fully present. He wasn’t just a visitor; he was a brother,” Sr. Beata Msomi recalled in the May 11 interview that was reported on May 12.
Sr. Stephen Middleton, who has served in South Africa for 47 years, also recalled the humble demeaner of the then Fr. Robert, describing him as “a listener”, who she recalled, “paid attention to what we were doing and who we were. That listening spirit; that’s what the synodal Church is about.”
In the interview, Sr. Beata shared referring to Pope Leo XIV, then Fr. Robert Prevost, “I remember him at the children’s home. He didn’t shy away from the chaos or the children trying to climb on him. He embraced them, literally and spiritually.”
Pope Leo XIV and West Africa
According to the Nigeria Catholic Network’s (NCN) May 10 report, “The new Pope Leo XIV is not a stranger to Nigeria, as records show that he has visited the country on at least nine occasions between 2001 and 2016.”
The Pontiff visited the West African nation to meet OSA members in the country during Provincial Chapters, the NCN report explains, adding, “He would usually visit most of the areas the Augustinians have a community. These include, Lagos, Jos, Benin, Bida, Ibusa, Iwaro Oka-Akoko, Kano, Warri, Kaduna, Abuja, etc.”
Pope Leo XIV and Central Africa
In his capacity as OSA Prior General, Pope Leo XIV, then Fr. Robert Francis Prevost presided over the inauguration of the Augustinian University in the capital city of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kinshasa, in 2009.
He reportedly spoke about the importance of education. He also had encounters with members of communities in war-torn villages and visited his confreres in the Bas-Uélé province.
Pope Leo XIV and North Africa
In the May 12 interview with ACI Africa, the Regional Vicar of OSA members in Kenya confirmed that Pope Leo XIV visited Algeria in North Africa.
Asked to share his thoughts on how he thinks Pope Leo XIV views the Church in Africa, Fr. Karanja said, “In Africa in my interactions with him, he sees the Church in Africa as very promising, and he always enjoyed celebrating Holy Mass in our missions and interacting with common Christian.”
“In my opinion, Pope Leo XIV considers the Church in Africa as a great contributor for the future of the Catholic Church,” the Regional Vicar of the Augustinians in Kenya told ACI Africa on May 12.
This story was updated after posting.
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