Camille Naredo

Pope Leo XIV leaves following a Divine Liturgy at Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul on November 30, 2025. Ozan Kose, AFP/File

Pope Leo XIV leaves following a Divine Liturgy at Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul on November 30, 2025. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / 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/1776695432838AFP__20251130__86LM6AY__v1__HighRes__TurkeyVaticanPopeDiplomacy.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Pope Leo XIV leaves following a Divine Liturgy at Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul on November 30, 2025. Ozan Kose, AFP/File" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Pope Leo XIV leaves following a Divine Liturgy at Patriarchal Church of Saint George, in Istanbul on November 30, 2025. <em>Ozan Kose, AFP/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>SAURIMO, Angola -- Pope Leo XIV condemned exploitation and corruption by the rich and powerful on Monday during a visit to Angola&#x27;s diamond-rich northeast, returning to a theme of his 11-day tour of Africa.</p><p>The American pope, on the eighth day of his trip to four African nations, visited Saurimo, some 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the capital, Luanda.</p><p>Under tropical heat and heavy security, Leo drove through the city of around 200,000 people along a route lined by hundreds of singing and cheering locals dressed in colourful outfits and waving white scarves.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/4/19/pope-leo-to-hold-giant-mass-for-angola-s-catholics-1657">READ: Pope Leo XIV calls for &#x27;hope&#x27; before 100,000 faithful in Angola</a></div><p>Saurimo is the capital of the historically marginalized Lunda Sul province and close to Angola&#x27;s largest diamond mine, Catoca, which extracts around 75 percent of the country&#x27;s diamonds.</p><p>The Portuguese-speaking country is one of Africa&#x27;s top producers of crude oil and diamonds, yet around a third of its people live below the World Bank poverty line.</p><p>&quot;We can see today how the hope of many people is frustrated by violence, exploited by the powerful and defrauded by the rich,&quot; the pope said in Portuguese at a giant open-air Mass.</p><p>&quot;Consequently, when injustice corrupts hearts, the bread of all becomes the possession of a few.&quot;</p><p>Authorities estimated that about 40,000 people attended the mass with another 20,000 taking part from surrounding areas.</p><p>The pope also criticized tyranny and exploitation in the first two legs of his marathon Africa journey, in Algeria and Cameroon, showing a tougher tone from a previously more reserved style.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Meeting the elderly -</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/wGnChuwDaHk?autoplay=1&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Soon after landing in Saurimo earlier Monday, the pope was welcomed at a home for around 60 elderly people who are either abandoned by their families or victims of violence.</p><p>&quot;Your presence in this home is a blessing from God,&quot; 72-year-old Antonio Joaquin told him.</p><p>Despite its mineral wealth, Lunda Sul province bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo suffers extreme poverty, with mining also blamed for environmental damage and displacing communities.</p><p>On the first day of his Angola stopover on Saturday, the pope spoke out against the harm caused by the rampant exploitation of the continent&#x27;s natural resources.</p><p>&quot;How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are caused by this logic of exploitation,&quot; he said in an address to government officials including President Joao Lourenco.</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>Back in Luanda on Monday, the pope will meet clergy to discuss challenges facing the church in Angola, including a lack of resources and the growing influence of evangelicism.</p><p>After John Paul II in 1992 and Benedict XVI in 2009, Leo is the third pope to visit this country, which was badly battered in a 27-year civil war that erupted after independence from Portugal in 1975.</p><p>At a Mass Sunday attended by 100,000 people, the 70-year-old pontiff called for Angola to overcome divisions of the past and create a future where &quot;the scourge of corruption will be healed by a new culture of justice and sharing&quot;.</p><p>Some 44 percent of the population, about 15 million Angolans, identify as Catholic, according to a 2024 census in this southern African country.</p><p>On Tuesday, the pope is due to travel to Equatorial Guinea to wrap up an 18,000‑km journey across Africa over 11 days.</p>

<p>Pope Leo XIV condemned exploitation and corruption by the rich and powerful on Monday during a visit to Angola's diamond-rich northeast, returning to a theme of his 11-day tour of Africa.</p>

Pope Leo XIV condemned exploitation and corruption by the rich and powerful on Monday during a visit to Angola's diamond-rich northeast, returning to a theme of his 11-day tour of Africa.

Pope Leo blasts 'exploitation' on visit to resource-rich Angola

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Pope Leo blasts 'exploitation' on visit to resource-rich Angola

Alberto Pizzoli with Clement Melki in Luanda,

Agence France-Presse

Published April 21, 2026 12:08 AM PHT

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