Algeria, Angola, Spain among 2026 papal trips, with invitation to Mexico on the table

(OSV News) — A series of recent announcements by bishops in Angola, Algeria and Spain have indicated that Pope Leo XIV will embark on trips to their respective countries this year. 

The Holy See typically announces papal visits months or even just weeks in advance, and it has not yet issued formal announcements about the pope’s 2026 travel destinations. Nevertheless, the bishops’ statements confirm what the pope said during a press conference aboard a papal flight to Rome Dec. 2. 

“I hope to make a trip to Africa. That would possibly be the next journey,” the pope told journalists. “I hope to go to Algeria to visit the places of St. Augustine, but also in order to continue the conversation of dialogue, of building bridges between the Christian world and the Muslim world.”

Cardinal says Algeria is on papal trip list

Cardinal Jean-Paul Vesco of Algiers told journalists outside the Paul VI audience hall Jan. 8 that he discussed the possibility of a trip with the pope during the extraordinary consistory and that the visit was “on track.”

Citing the pope’s own words aboard the papal flight, Cardinal Vesco said northern Africa’s Algeria will most likely be Pope Leo’s “next trip,” and that it would take place in “the first part of 2026.” However, he noted, the pope did not “give a date.”

Invite to visit Angola accepted, nuncio says

On Jan. 13, Angola was announced as another destination that Pope Leo intends to visit this year. At a press conference in Luanda, Polish Archbishop Kryspin Witold Dubiel, apostolic nuncio to Angola, announced that the pope had accepted the invitation from Church and government officials to visit. 

“I wish to inform you that the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, intends to visit the African continent, and Angola is also included in the itinerary of this trip,” Archbishop Dubiel said. 

“I hope that the Holy Father’s visit will be an opportunity to rediscover the values that have shaped the Angolan people, and that these values can be shared with the various communities that live and work around the world,” he said.

Angolan Archbishop Filomeno Vieira Dias of Luanda expressed his joy and noted that the visit to the southwestern part of the African continent would coincide with the capital city’s jubilee, celebrating the 450th anniversary of its founding. 

“It is a celebration of a life path that has marked our history for more than five centuries,” the Angolan archbishop said. 

Pope hopes to visit Marian apparition sites, trips to be determined

In November, while answering questions from journalists gathered outside the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo expressed his hope to visit several other destinations, including the Marian sites of Fatima and Guadalupe.

While there is no word about a visit to Portugal, the Archdiocese of Mexico City issued a statement Jan. 14 following a meeting between the pope and Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes of Mexico City. 

According to the statement, Cardinal Aguiar invited the pope to visit Mexico, “which he had originally extended a few days after the conclave.”

“In response, the Holy Father expressed his gratitude and stated his desire and interest in being in our country soon to entrust his pontificate to the Virgin of Guadalupe,” the statement read.

Mexico City is home to the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe on the site of Mary’s apparitions to St. Juan Diego in 1531.

Papal trip to Spain recently confirmed

Unlike the announcements for Africa, it is unclear if the pope will visit Mexico this year. Nevertheless, the pope’s travel schedule for 2026 is seemingly taking shape, with a trip to Spain in June recently confirmed by Spanish Cardinal José Cobo of Madrid. While the trip is likely to include stops in Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, it may also include the city of Guadalupe in southwestern Spain, OSV News learned. The city is home to an important Medieval monastery that today is a UNESCO World Heritage site and pilgrimage destination.

Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News. Follow him on X @jae_journalist.

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