Tens of thousands of people gathered on Sunday for a giant open-air Mass by Pope Leo XIV near Angola’s capital Luanda, where he delivered a message of hope to the resource-rich country marked by poverty and inequality. The pope was due later in the town of Muxima south of Luanda, which has become one of southern Africa’s most venerated pilgrimage sites. Leo flew into Luanda on Saturday, the third leg of a whirlwind four-nation African tour on which he has condemned corruption and the plunder of the continent’s resources — and had a high-profile spat with US President Donald Trump.
Around 100,000 people attended the Mass at Kilamba, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the capital, authorities said. Many had slept on the ground overnight in T-shirts bearing the image of the American pope. After pushing through the crowds in his popemobile, Leo encouraged Angolans “to look to the future with hope” in a “new beginning” for the nation still scarred by a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.
It was possible “to build a country where old divisions are overcome forever, where hatred and violence disappear, where the wound of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing”, Leo said. On arriving on Saturday from Cameroon, Leo went straight into an event with Angolan President Joao Lourenco and other officials where he spoke out against the “suffering” caused by poverty and the rampant exploitation of natural resources — continuing the assertive tone of his 11-day tour.
He urged the officials to “not be afraid of dissent”, with critics accusing Lourenco’s government of repressing rights activists.- ‘Call leaders to account’ -Angola is one of Africa’s top oil producers and is rich in resources such as diamonds. However, economic disparities are stark and around a third of the population of 36.6 million people live in poverty, according to the World Bank.
Patricio Musanga, 32, said he attended the Kilamba Mass looking for encouragement for young people in a country where the average age is just 23, with a lack of work making many seek better opportunities in Western countries.”We are very rich in natural resources but… there is a glaring inequality between those who live well and the others,” said Musanga.”The pope must call our leaders to account… I believe that at least he will be listened to by the authorities,” he said.
Father Pedro Chingandu, a Catholic priest who had come from the eastern province of Moxico, told AFP: “We need real democracy and the redistribution of wealth and justice.”- Not debating Trump -At Muxima, hundreds of people spent the night in multicoloured tents ahead of Leo’s arrival. The town’s celebrated 16th-century Mama Muxima shrine “is the soul and the heart of all Angolans,” said Veronica Simao Teka, in her sixties.
Meraldo Amon Daniel, a 21-year-old nursing student, said she believed the pope’s visit “can strengthen the faith, not only of the faithful, but also of the country’s authorities.” Angola’s security forces are regularly accused of a heavy-handed response to dissent, including in July last year when around 30 people were killed in a crackdown on a three-day looting spree in Luanda and other centres.
Analysts said the unrest signalled dissatisfaction with Lourenco’s socialist MPLA party, which has held power since independence in 1975. Leo started his African tour in Algeria on Monday, then headed to Cameroon. He told journalists on the flight to Angola he regretted that a war of words with Trump — who labelled him “weak” after he called for an end to the Middle East war — had overshadowed some of the trip.
It is “not in my interest at all” to debate the US leader, said the first American pontiff. From Angola, Leo will travel to Equatorial Guinea, the final stop of an 18,000-kilometre journey across the continent.
Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:43:20 GMT