How Pope Leo Will Approach Africa, Catholicism’s Fastest-Growing Region

Ebenezer Obadare is the Douglas Dillon senior fellow for Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. 

The Catholic Church’s new pope, Pope Leo XIV, was sworn in earlier this month and is now tasked with guiding the Church through increasingly modern challenges. His predecessor, Pope Francis, was thought of as someone who worked more with countries in Africa and Asia than most popes before him. While many Africans had hoped to see the first African pope selected as Francis’s successor, they now look to Leo for collaboration on the issues most important to them and recognition of Africa’s role in the Church.   

What could the new pope mean for Africa? 

During his twelve-year papacy, the late Pope Francis made five separate apostolic trips to Africa. His time spent there earned him the tag of someone who “had the continent at heart.” Many Africans rightly expect his successor, Pope Leo XIV, to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor by using his office to advocate for issues close to the heart of the average African. These include human trafficking, climate change, chronic political instability, poverty, immigration, and interfaith dialogue. 

Although the passing of Pope Francis did not lead to the emergence of the first African pontiff of the modern era as many had hoped, African Catholics—who, at an estimated 281 million, comprise roughly 20 percent of the world’s total Catholic congregation—will expect to have a greater say in the Church’s affairs.   

What priorities should the new pope have in the region? 

While the church is on the whole in good health across the continent (indeed, Africa is the Church’s fastest-growing region), challenges remain. The increasing shortage of priests—a downward trend that is consistent with global patterns—is one nagging concern. How to reverse this decline should be a matter of priority for the pope. 

Despite the Church’s growing presence in Africa, however, it seems—like other mainline, Protestant denominations around the world—to be losing ground to Pentecostal churches, which by many accounts are Africa’s fastest-growing Christian denomination. In 2023, Archbishop Bienvenu Manamika Bafouakouahou of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, made headlines with his admission that Pentecostalism was “drawing people away” from Catholicism by “offering quick and easy solutions to their problems.” Pope Leo could make repelling this “guerrilla warfare”—as Manamika dubbed it—an urgent priority. In furthering outreach to communities attracted to Pentecostalism, the Church faces the challenge of “modernizing” without sacrificing doctrinal fidelity. 

Finally, the new pope will have to manage the simmering tensions between the Vatican and the continent on questions of same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ rights more broadly. With few significant exceptions, same-sex activity is both legally criminalized and socially frowned upon across most African countries.   

What are the perceptions of the new pope in various African countries? 

Early indications are that the majority of African Catholics are generally warm toward the selection of American-born Robert Francis Prevost as the new leader of the Catholic Church. While there is some disappointment that the wait for a modern African pope continues, the papacy in general is viewed favorably across Africa. 

None other than Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, and one of the three cardinals thought to have been in contention, has described the selection of the new pope as “primarily made by the Holy Spirit itself” and asked Africans to pray for him. Five African leaders were among the dignitaries in attendance at Pope Francis’s funeral in Rome last month.   

What is the role of religion in African countries? How influential is Catholicism compared to other Christian missions or major religions? 

Religion continues to play a crucially important role in how Africans view the world and how they make sense of socioeconomic, political, and cultural phenomena. At 281 million, Catholics represent a substantial share of an estimated 700 million African Christians, and the Church continues to get good press because of the evident “social justice” component of its mission, in particular, its widely documented role in education, healthcare, and pro-democracy activism. Africa is also one of the main hubs of the global Pentecostal expansion. Influential Pentecostal denominations and leaders dictate the tone and rhythm of public life in Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, among others. 

But religion in Africa is not always a force for peace and stability. Currently, countries across the Sahel and other parts of the continent are under the sway of Islamist extremism perpetrated by various Jihadist groups. In 2024 alone, an estimated 18,900 fatalities were linked to militant Islamist violence.

This work represents the views and opinions solely of the author. The Council on Foreign Relations is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher, and takes no institutional positions on matters of policy.