Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Cameroon and Angola on March 17-23 for his first papal pilgrimage to Africa. The Vatican announced dates of the trip on Monday.

The pope said months ago he intended to go to Cameroon as part of preparations for an October 2009 bishops’ meeting at the Vatican dealing with Africa. He said he would go from there to Angola to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in Angola.

With over 19 million Catholics in Africa, the Catholic Church has seen a growing number of new adherents coming from the continent; it also has made up the supply of priests for parishes in parts of Europe and North America where vocations have steadily declined in the last few decades.