New Delhi, April 18 -- Pope Leo XIV's 11-day tour of four African nations has given the usually reserved American pope a global platform to speak out, in sometimes explosive terms, about Africa's problems while preaching peace and uprightness in a world battered by war.

History's first American pope is visiting the continent against the backdrop of his calls for peace that have sparked a feud with U.S. President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.

Currently in Cameroon after first visiting Algeria, Leo's visit to the continent is so dizzying in its complexity it recalls some of the globe-trotting odysseys of St. John Paul II in his early years.

In meeting with leaders and with Africa's young population, which is set to double by 2050, t...