By Joshua McElwee
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT, April 13 (Reuters) - Pope Leo set off on Monday for an ambitious 10-day tour of four countries in Africa, in a bid to urge global leaders to address the needs on the continent where more than a fifth of the world's Catholics live.
The first U.S. pope, who was the target of an unusual, direct attack from President Donald Trump late on Sunday that drew sharp rebuke from Catholics, left Rome for Algeria, where he will spend two days.
Leo is undertaking a whirlwind tour to 11 cities and towns, traversing nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights and will also visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
The pope is making the visit with a mission "to help turn the world's attention to Africa", Cardinal Michael Czerny, a senior Vatican official and close adviser to Leo, told Reuters.
The pope, who has emerged as an outspoken critic of the Iran war and decried the "madness of war" on Saturday, has made only one big overseas trip since being elected last May, visiting Turkey and Lebanon in November and December. He visited Monaco in March.
Leo, aged 70, relatively young and in good health for a pope, is undertaking one of the most complicated tours arranged for a pontiff in decades.
He and his entourage departed Rome's Fiumicino airport shortly after 9 am (0700 GMT), heading for the Algerian capital Algiers where he will meet President Abdelmadjid Tebboune before addressing the country's political leaders.
More than 20% of the world's Catholics live in Africa, according to Vatican statistics. The three sub-Saharan nations the pope is visiting have populations where more than half identify as Catholic.
Algeria, though, is an overwhelmingly Muslim country with under 10,000 Catholics among its population of some 48 million people. This is the first time it will host a Catholic pope.
POPE TO GIVE 25 SPEECHES ON MULTITUDE OF TOPICS
Leo's tour is the 24th by a pope to Africa since the late 1960s.
He is expected to touch on many topics in 25 planned speeches over 10 days, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told journalists on Friday, given that the four nations face diverse issues.
Likely topics include exploitation of natural resources, Catholic-Muslim dialogue, and dangers of political corruption, said Bruni.
Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea have presidents who have been in power for decades and have been accused of human rights abuses, which they deny.
The biggest event of the itinerary will likely come in Cameroon on Friday, when the Vatican said some 600,000 are expected for a Mass in the coastal city of Douala.
Comfortable in several languages, Leo is expected to speak Italian, English, French, Portuguese and Spanish during the trip.
After speaking to Algeria's political leaders on Monday, Leo will visit the Great Mosque of Algiers in only his second visit to a mosque as pope.
He will travel on Tuesday to Annaba on Algeria's northeast coast, for a visit to the ruins of the ancient town of Hippo.
The site has special meaning to Leo, who is a member of the Augustinian religious order. The order is inspired by the teachings of fourth-century St. Augustine of Hippo, a major figure in the early Church.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Alvise Armellini)
