New Delhi, April 15 -- Pope Leo XIV walked Tuesday in the footsteps of his spiritual father, St. Augustine, making a pilgrimage to the archaeological ruins in Algeria where the fifth-century titan of early Christianity lived, died and wrote some of the most important works in Western thought.

Leo's visit to Annaba, the modern-day Hippo, was a spiritual homecoming for the American pope on his second full day in Algeria. He arrived Monday on a first-ever papal visit, against the backdrop of his calls for peace that have sparked a feud with U.S. President Donald Trump over the war in Iran. It's the first stop on Leo's four-country Africa tour.

The pope arrived at the ruins in a rainstorm and with tight security, with sharpshooters position...