No U.S. visit for Pope Leo XIV this year, Vatican says

ROME – After months of rumors and speculation about whether Pope Leo XIV would visit his home nation this year, a Vatican spokesman on Sunday said no such trip is in the cards for 2026.

“[T]he pope will not go to the United States in 2026,” the press office announced in a terse statement to journalists on Sunday.

Rumors began to swirl last fall about a potential papal visit to the United States, with the date potentially being in early September, for a United Nations general assembly.

Those rumors died down toward the end of the year, only to be reignited in January, with projected stops including Washington DC, New York, and Chicago (Leo’s native city).

The Vatican’s statement Sunday should put the rumors of a 2026 U.S. visit to rest, with a first U.S. trip for the new pontiff pushed into 2027 at the earliest.

Leo is expected to have a significant travel schedule this year, however, with planned trips to Africa and South America.

RELATED: Pope gets invitation to visit Peru during a Vatican garden party, then stays for lunch

He is expected to make a lengthy visit to Africa sometime this spring, with potential stops in Equatorial Guinea and Angola, officials for whom have already confirmed that plans for a papal trip are underway, as well as Cameroon and Algeria.

Leo previously mentioned his desire to visit Algeria, which holds strong significance for his Augustinian Order, on his Dec. 2, 2025, return flight from Beirut to Rome following his first international trip.

Plans are also underway for a papal visit to South America, potentially in November, with stops expected in Argentina, Uruguay, and Peru, where Leo lived for two decades as a missionary, as pastor and as bishop, before being called to Rome by Pope Francis in 2013.

There are also rumors of a potential papal visit to Spain, however, so far nothing has been officially confirmed.

Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen