France, April 13 -- The 70-year-old will cover more than 18,000 kilometres across Algeria, Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea - delivering 11 speeches and presiding over seven masses before returning on 23 April.

From conflict and human rights to migration and corruption, the US-born pontiff is expected to address a range of issues during a visit that comes at a time of global uncertainty linked to the Middle East war and its economic impact.

It will be his third trip outside Italy since his election in May, after visits to Turkey and Lebanon last year, and Monaco in March.

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Leo will become the first pope to visit Algeria, where Islam is the state religi...