Pope Leo urges Angola to overcome divisions at mass attended by 100,000 people

KILAMBA, Angola – Pope Leo urged Angolans on April 19 to overcome divisions after decades of bloody conflict, addressing an estimated 100,000 people who flocked to a mass in a dirt field near capital Luanda.

In one of the biggest events of his four-nation Africa tour, the Pope called Angola, which experienced a bloody, 27-year civil war from 1975 to 2002, a “beautiful, yet wounded country”.

He urged Angolans to “build together a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear”.

At the end of the mass, the Pope decried the recent ramp-up in the Ukraine war, calling “for the weapons to fall silent and for the path of dialogue to be followed”.

He also praised the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to end fighting between Israeli forces and Iran-backed Hezbollah as a “reason for hope”.

Believers began arriving before dawn at Kilamba, a sprawling housing complex, braving hot, humid conditions to hear the address from the Pope, who has become outspoken on war and inequality and has angered US President Donald Trump.

By the time the mass began, throngs of people filled the site, dancing and shouting as the Pope drove through in his white popemobile.

Among those welcoming Pope Leo was Sister Christina Matende, who arrived around 6am for the mass. “The Pope coming here is a joy,” she said. “We are living in a moment of a lot of difficulties.”

Angola is one of the leading oil-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but its population of 36.6 million people is still confronting extreme poverty, with more than 30 per cent living on less than US$2.15 (S$2.70) a day, according to the World Bank.

More than half of the country identifies as Catholic.

Pope denounces ‘despots and tyrants’

Pope Leo, the first US pope, is visiting Angola on the third leg of a four-nation Africa tour. In a speech to the country’s political leaders on April 18, he decried the exploitation of natural resources on the continent.

The Pope blasted “despots and tyrants” who, he said, guarantee wealth but do not deliver on their promises, leading to suffering and deaths.

He also urged political leaders to focus on helping all their people and not just corporate interests.

“History will then vindicate you, even if in the near term some may oppose you,” he said.

Ms Anielka Caliata, 25, who was in the crowd waiting for the Pope in Kilamba on April 19, said she was grateful for the way the Pope has debuted a forceful speaking style on his Africa tour.

“Our country needs a lot of this message, and I think the Pope will help us to think and reflect about that, knowing that all of us need to work together and do our best to have peace,” she said, as she stood with her fiance and parents. REUTERS