Camille Naredo

Pope Leo XIV leads a mass at the basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba on the second day of  an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, on April 14, 2026. Alberto Pizzoli, AFP

Pope Leo XIV leads a mass at the basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba on the second day of  an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, on April 14, 2026. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP)

Article (news)

Pope Leo

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1776513673053AFP__20260414__A7RN6FT__v2__MidRes__AlgeriaVaticanDiplomacy.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Pope Leo XIV leads a mass at the basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba on the second day of  an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, on April 14, 2026. Alberto Pizzoli, AFP" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Pope Leo XIV leads a mass at the basilica of St. Augustine in Annaba on the second day of  an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa, on April 14, 2026. <em>Alberto Pizzoli, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon -- Pope Leo XIV arrives on Saturday in Angola, the third leg of a landmark African tour marked by a war of words with US President Donald Trump over the Middle East conflict.</p><p>Leo is set to become the third pontiff to visit the fossil fuel-rich country, where around 44 percent of the population identifies as Catholic, after John Paul II in 1992 and Benedict XVI in 2009.</p><p>Before his expected arrival at 1400 GMT in the capital Luanda, where billboards bearing his beaming likeness have been put up to welcome him, Leo will wrap up his three-day trip to Cameroon with an open-air Mass at Yaounde airport.</p><p>The first pope from the United States will then meet Angola&#x27;s President Joao Lourenco and deliver a speech, the latest on a trip which has seen him sharpen his rhetoric after being targeted by Trump.</p><p>As in Cameroon, tens of thousands of worshippers are expected to flock to catch a glimpse of the head of the world&#x27;s 1.4 billion Catholics before his departure on Tuesday morning.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s as if God were very close to us,&quot; 40-year-old human resources manager Helena Maria Miguel said of the pope&#x27;s visit.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/16/pope-leo-decries-world-ravaged-by-tyrants-2340">READ: Pope Leo decries world &#x27;ravaged by tyrants&#x27;</a></div><p>Leo&#x27;s increasingly vigorous calls for world peace are likely to resonate in Angola, which emerged in 2002 from a 27-year civil war that erupted in the wake of independence from Portugal in 1975.</p><p>Throughout his 11-day four-nation Africa visit, the pope has delivered pointed warnings against corruption, the plunder of the continent&#x27;s resources and the dangers of artificial intelligence, as his tussle with Trump drags on.</p><p>Without mentioning his fellow American by name, Leo has in recent days abandoned his previous restraint to adopt a more forceful tone.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Needs of the youth&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1HZi7n9oybk?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>After Trump&#x27;s Catholic Vice President JD Vance urged the Vatican to &quot;stick to matters of morality&quot;, Leo on Thursday said the world was &quot;being ravaged by a handful of tyrants&quot; and piled on more criticism of those who use religion to justify war.</p><p>During his stop in Cameroon, Leo demanded the country&#x27;s leaders tackle corruption and condemned &quot;those who, in the name of profit, continue to seize the African continent to exploit and plunder it&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/18/us-catholics-unsettled-by-trump-s-feud-with-pope-0930">READ: US Catholics unsettled by Trump&#x27;s feud with pope</a></div><p>Like his calls for peace, Leo&#x27;s warnings against graft and exploitation are likely to strike a chord in Angola, where a third of the population live below the poverty line despite its vast fossil fuel reserves.</p><p>The country&#x27;s economy is heavily dependent on oil, leaving it exposed to price fluctuations, while rampant corruption has even spread to the family of former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos.</p><p>His visit comes after torrential downpours have left nearly 50 dead in the coastal Benguela region since early April.</p><p>And it comes less than a year after a deadly crackdown on protests over the high cost of living killed 30 people and saw hundreds arrested.</p><p>&quot;There is a lot of suffering, a lot of poverty in Angola. I hope the pope will see with his own eyes the needs of the youth here,&quot; said Antonio Masaidi, a 33-year-old engineer.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Moment of grace&#x27; -</strong></div><p>On Sunday, Leo will celebrate a giant open-air Mass in Kilamba on Luanda&#x27;s outskirts, where facilities including a large food court are being built to host tens of thousands of worshippers.</p><p>In the afternoon, the pope will travel by helicopter to the village of Muxima, about 130 kilometers southeast of Luanda, home to a 16th-century church overlooking the Kwanza River that has become one of southern Africa&#x27;s most important pilgrimage sites.</p><p>A basilica is under construction in Muxima, where slaves were once baptised before being shipped out of Africa, as part of a multimillion-dollar government project to turn it into a major tourism destination.</p><p>&quot;It is a historic moment of grace, a moment of profound emotion, with tears in our eyes and gratitude in our hearts,&quot; the rector of the shrine, Father Mpindi Lubanzadio Alberto, told the Catholic news site ACI Africa.</p><p>On April 20, the pope is due to travel more than 800 kilometers from the capital to visit a retirement home in Saurimo and celebrate another mass before departing the following morning.</p><p>Leo will then fly to Equatorial Guinea, the final stop of a whirlwind 18,000-kilometre journey that began in Algeria.</p>

<p>Pope Leo XIV arrives on Saturday in Angola, the third leg of a landmark African tour marked by a war of words with US President Donald Trump over the Middle East conflict.</p>

Pope Leo XIV arrives on Saturday in Angola, the third leg of a landmark African tour marked by a war of words with US President Donald Trump over the Middle East conflict.

Pope brings Africa tour to Angola as Trump feud drags on

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Pope brings Africa tour to Angola as Trump feud drags on

Clement Melki and Francois Ausseil,

Agence France-Presse

Published April 18, 2026 08:24 PM PHT

Read More:

Yaoundé

Cameroon

Angola

Africa

Pope Leo

religion

Catholic Church

Donald Trump

Middle East

war

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