Pope Leo tells Angola during huge Mass to ‘build hope’

On the third leg of his Africa tour, Leo urges Angola to move beyond “divisions” created by its war-scarred past.

Pope Leo XIV has addressed tens of thousands of faithful near Angola’s capital, urging the country to overcome “divisions” and “corruption” during a landmark tour of Africa.

Speaking at an open-air Mass on Sunday in the town of Kilamba on the outskirts of Luanda, Leo addressed the country’s civil war-scarred past that he said has brought “enmity and division, squandered resources and poverty”.

“Today, there is a need to look to the future with hope and to build that hope. Do not be afraid to do so,” Leo said.

The pontiff arrived in the Portuguese-speaking nation on Saturday for the third leg of a four-nation tour of the continent, which began in Algeria and Cameroon and will also include a stop in Equatorial Guinea.

At a meeting with Angolan officials, including President Joao Lourenco, Leo spoke out against the “suffering” and social and environmental “disasters” caused by the rampant exploitation of natural resources.

The remarks in Angola, which endured a decades-long civil war that ended in 2002, continued a theme of Leo’s 11-day tour, during which he has delivered pointed warnings against corruption and the plunder of the continent’s resources.

The first United States-born pope has also delivered remarks seen as critical of the US-Israeli war in Iran and US policy, including calling US President Donald Trump’s threat to end Iran’s civilisation “unacceptable”.

The pontiff’s rhetoric has put him at odds with Trump, who last week called the Catholic leader “weak” and “terrible for foreign policy”.

Leo said he is not afraid of the Trump administration and will continue to speak out against war. But travelling from Cameroon to Angola on Saturday, Leo also said he has no interest in starting “a new debate” with the US president.

‘Waiting for pope’s blessing’

Many people who attended the Mass at Kilamba arrived early in the morning in anticipation.

“The pope coming here is a joy,” said ‌Sister Christina Matende, who arrived about 6am (05:00 GMT). “We are living in a moment of a lot of difficulties, and we are waiting for the blessing of the pope.”

From Kilamba, Leo is to travel 110km (70 miles) by helicopter to the town of Muxima, Angola’s most venerated pilgrimage site, where a 300-year-old church overlooks a river that was once a major slave-trading route.

The church, with a statue of the Virgin Mary known affectionately as “Mama Muxima”, draws roughly two million pilgrims a year and large crowds are expected to meet the pope there.

The pope is then due to travel more than 800km (497 miles) from the capital to visit a retirement home in Saurimo, where he will celebrate another Mass before departing for Equatorial Guinea.

Catholic lawyer Domingos das Neves said the pope’s focus on social justice was welcome in Angola, which is struggling with “stark social asymmetries and inequalities”.

“Angola is in great need of a guiding light to illuminate our collective efforts both within ecclesiastical institutions and the state, so that we do not forget the poor and the destitute,” das Neves told the AFP news agency.