VATICAN CITY, April 13. /TASS/. Pope Leo XIV condemned the "continuous violations of international law and neocolonial tendencies" in international politics upon arriving in Algeria on the first leg of his trip to Africa.

The Pontiff called on the Algerian leadership to build a society based on the principles of justice and solidarity: "Today, this is more urgent than ever in the of continuous violations international law and neocolonial tendencies," he was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying.

According to the Pope, he is traveling through Africa as a witness to the peace and hope that the people of the planet so fervently desire. The future belongs to those who will not allow themselves to be blinded by power or wealth, he said. Africa knows better than anyone else that people and organizations that try to dominate others are destroying the world.

AFP news agency said that the Pope visited the Martyrs' Memorial, where he paid tribute to those who died during the liberation struggle of the Algerian people against the French colonialists (1954-1962), laying a wreath.

According to the Holy See, no pope has ever visited Algeria, but Leo XIV, an Augustinian, has been to the country several times as prior general (head of the order) of the Augustinians, who is closely associated with Algeria, where St. Augustine was born in the IV century A.D. Now Leo XIV returns in the papal status to the land of the ancient Christian tradition. In Algeria, Catholics account for no more than 0.01% of the predominantly Muslim population.

Otherwise, the program of the Pope's visits to each country includes traditional points - meetings with heads of state, speeches to representatives of the leadership, civil society and the diplomatic corps, Catholic clergy, masses and visits to places associated with worship or humanitarian missions. The Pope will also visit Cameroon, Angola and Equatorial Guinea.