VATICAN CITY, April 10 -- Pope Leo leaves on Monday for a visit to four countries in Africa, in an ‌ambitious tour to urge world leaders to address the needs of ​the continent. Here is a history of papal visits to Africa, where more than 20 per cent of the world's Catholics live.

Pope Paul VI (1963 to 1978)

Pope Paul ‌VI, the first pope to leave Italy in 150 years, made the first papal ​visit to Africa in 1969. He visited Uganda, seven years after the country's independence from Britain. Over the three-day visit, he made 19 speeches and ordained 12 new Catholic bishops. In a speech to the Ugandan parliament, he asked ​them to pursue a peace agenda. "No longer should violence be the means of resolving disagr...