Life onboard the papal plane, as a very different pope tours Africa under the shadow of Francis — and Trump

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Pope Leo's encounters at 30,000 feet provide moments of candor and a rare chance to hear him speaking truly off-the-cuff.

Pope Leo in Bamenda, Cameroon, on Thursday.Simone Risoluti / Vatican Pool via Getty Images

April 16, 2026, 2:11 PM EDT

By Claudio Lavanga

BAMENDA, Cameroon — Nobody expected Pope Leo XIV's papal tour this week to dominate international news, but the Chicago-born pontiff's 11-day trip across Africa has already seen him tested by broadsides from another all-American leader eager to reshape the world in his image.

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