Pope Leo XIV is travelling to the western Cameroon city of Bamenda to preach a message of peace. The city is the epicenter of a separatist conflict that humanitarian groups have called one of the world’s most neglected crises. Leo is set to preside Thursday over a peace meeting involving a Mankon traditional chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam and a Catholic nun. The aim is to highlight the interfaith movement that has been seeking to end the conflict and care for its many traumatized victims. The pope also plans to celebrate a Mass for the people of Bamenda, located near Cameroon’s western border with Nigeria.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — There is an odd sense of isolation when you are covering Pope Leo XIV from inside the Vatican’s traveling press …

Human Rights Watch, in a detailed new report, says Chinese authorities are increasing pressure on underground Catholic communities to join the state-controlled official church while tightening surveillance and travel restrictions on all of China’s estimated 12 million Catholics. The report says the heightened pressure is part of a decade-old campaign to ensure that religious denominations and independent churches are loyal to the officially atheist Communist Party. China’s Catholics have been divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn’t recognize papal authority and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution.

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday doubled down as U.S. President Donald Trump’s criticism showed no sign of letting up, …

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S.-born Pope Leo XIV pushed back Monday on President Donald Trump’s broadside against him over the U.S.-Israel war in Iran…

Pope Leo XIV is embarking Monday on the first-ever papal trip to Algeria. He aims to promote Christian-Muslim coexistence at a time of global conflict. He also will honor the locally born inspiration of his religious spirituality, St. Augustine. Leo’s visit kicks off an 11-day tour of four African nations that also includes Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. It will bring the U.S.-born pope into the growing heart of the Catholic Church on the continent. Algeria has a tiny Catholic community of around 9,000 people made up mostly of foreigners that exists alongside the Sunni Muslim majority of about 47 million.

Pope Leo XIV is making a long and ambitious odyssey across four African countries -- Algeria, Angola, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. The visit will put Leo’s linguistic, cultural and endurance chops to the test, even for a relatively young and fit pope who loves to travel and crisscrossed the globe as superior of his Augustinian religious order. The 70-year-old Leo will cover about 11,000 miles on 18 flights over 11 days starting Monday. He'll deliver speeches and homilies in French, Spanish, Portuguese and English in a part of the world that is crucial for the continued growth of the Catholic Church, but poses unique challenges as well.