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)

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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/1776585674691AFP__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>MUXIMA, Angola (<strong>UPDATED</strong>) -- Tens of thousands of people gathered on Sunday for a giant open-air Mass by Pope Leo XIV near Angola&#x27;s capital Luanda, where he delivered a message of hope to the resource-rich country marked by poverty and inequality.</p><p>The pope was due later in the town of Muxima south of Luanda, which has become one of southern Africa&#x27;s most venerated pilgrimage sites.</p><p>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&#x27;s resources -- and had a high-profile spat with US President Donald Trump.</p><p>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.</p><p>After pushing through the crowds in his popemobile, Leo encouraged Angolans &quot;to look to the future with hope&quot; in a &quot;new beginning&quot; for the nation still scarred by a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002.</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>It was possible &quot;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&quot;, Leo said.</p><p>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 &quot;suffering&quot; caused by poverty and the rampant exploitation of natural resources -- continuing the assertive tone of his 11-day tour.</p><p>He urged the officials to &quot;not be afraid of dissent&quot;, with critics accusing Lourenco&#x27;s government of repressing rights activists.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Call leaders to account&#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/b1zKSvTl9m4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>Angola is one of Africa&#x27;s top oil producers and is rich in resources such as diamonds.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>&quot;We are very rich in natural resources but... there is a glaring inequality between those who live well and the others,&quot; said Musanga.</p><p>&quot;The pope must call our leaders to account... I believe that at least he will be listened to by the authorities,&quot; he said.</p><p>Father Pedro Chingandu, a Catholic priest who had come from the eastern province of Moxico, told AFP: &quot;We need real democracy and the redistribution of wealth and justice.&quot;</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/18/pope-brings-africa-tour-to-angola-as-trump-feud-drags-on-2024">READ: Pope brings Africa tour to Angola as Trump feud drags on</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Not debating Trump -</strong></div><p>At Muxima, hundreds of people spent the night in multicoloured tents ahead of Leo&#x27;s arrival.</p><p>The town&#x27;s celebrated 16th-century Mama Muxima shrine &quot;is the soul and the heart of all Angolans,&quot; said Veronica Simao Teka, in her sixties.</p><p>Meraldo Amon Daniel, a 21-year-old nursing student, said she believed the pope&#x27;s visit &quot;can strengthen the faith, not only of the faithful, but also of the country&#x27;s authorities.&quot;</p><p>Angola&#x27;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.</p><p>Analysts said the unrest signalled dissatisfaction with Lourenco&#x27;s socialist MPLA party, which has held power since independence in 1975.</p><p>Leo started his African tour in Algeria on Monday, then headed to Cameroon.</p><p>He told journalists on the flight to Angola he regretted that a war of words with Trump -- who labelled him &quot;weak&quot; after he called for an end to the Middle East war -- had overshadowed some of the trip.</p><p>It is &quot;not in my interest at all&quot; to debate the US leader, said the first American pontiff.</p><p>From Angola, Leo will travel to Equatorial Guinea, the final stop of an 18,000-kilometre journey across the continent.</p>

<p>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.</p>

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.

Pope Leo XIV calls for 'hope' before 100,000 faithful in Angola

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Pope Leo XIV calls for 'hope' before 100,000 faithful in Angola

Francois Ausseill and Clement Melki,

Agence France-Presse

Published April 19, 2026 04:57 PM PHT

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Updated April 19, 2026 11:53 PM PHT

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