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Tens of thousands gather outside Angolan capital for Pope Leo Mass
He urged Angolans to reject despair and corruption as about 100,000 people attended his open-air Mass outside Luanda.
- On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV celebrated an open-air Mass in Kilamba, Angola, attended by an estimated 100,000 people. He urged Angolans to "build together a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear."
- Angola's extreme poverty affects over 30% of its 36.6 million population, framing the papal visit's urgency. Leo previously condemned the "suffering" and social and environmental "disasters" caused by extractivism, addressing divisions from the nation's 27-year civil war.
- Later Sunday, the Pope traveled 110 kilometres by helicopter to the 300-year-old Our Lady of Muxima Shrine, historically linked to the slave trade. Genealogical research indicates Leo's ancestors included both enslaved people and slaveholders, adding personal significance to the visit.
- Bishop Vicente Sanombo of the Diocese of Kuito-Bié expressed hope the papal visit acts as a catalyst for national healing. Vast crowds gathered at the shrine seeking comfort, reflecting on Leo's message of reconciliation and peace.
- This stop marks the third leg of Leo's 11-day African tour focused on social justice and anti-corruption messaging. He continues to challenge "despots and tyrants" regarding resource exploitation, aiming to influence policy choices on governance across the continent.
120 Articles
120 Articles
Pope Leo draws 100,000 to Angola Mass, condemns corruption
MuUXIMA, Angola — Pope Leo XIV spoke out against the “scourge of corruption” at a giant open-air Mass attended by 100,000 worshippers near Angola’s capital Sunday, before visiting a venerated historic shrine in the country scarred by poverty and inequality. Leo arrived in resource-rich Angola on Saturday on the third leg of a whirlwind four-nation African tour on which he condemned the plunder of the continent’s resources—and had a high-profile …
Pope Leo prays at Catholic shrine in Angola that was a center of African slave trade
Pope Leo XIV on Sunday recalled the “sorrow and great suffering” Angolans endured for centuries, as the American pope prayed at a Catholic shrine located at the site of an important hub of the African slave trade during Portugal’s colonial rule.
Pope Leo XIV made this Sunday a call to "hope" in a camp mass in front of 100,000 people in Kilamba, near Luanda, the capital of Angola. Analysis: Trump's argument with Pope Leo XIV deepens divisions on the American right Pope Leo XIV: Pontiff regrets that his speeches have been interpreted as a debate with Trump In his homily, the Pontiff invited Catholics to "look at the future with hope" at the first Mass of the Pontiff in Angola, held in Kil…
Leo XIVaKilamba with 100,000 faithful on the path of civil war: "The Lord accompanies us." The invitation to "watch over traditional forms of religiosity." The need for pastors and missionaries with "desire to break their lives and give it." Yesterday in Luanda to the authorities: "true joy" freed from the logical extractivist'. To the Queen Caeli: truce in Lebanon "the seed of relief for the people."
Pope Leo XIV heads to Catholic shrine in Angola that was a centre of African slave trade
Pope Leo XIV called Sunday for Angolans to fight the “scourge of corruption” with a culture of justice as he opened a poignant day in his African odyssey that will take the American pope to an epicentre of the African slave trade.
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