KILAMBA, Angola (OSV News) — In the middle of his 11-day apostolic visit to four countries in Africa, Pope Leo XIV celebrated an outdoor Mass for an estimated 100,000 Catholics in Angola on Sunday, April 19, urging the faithful of a nation still bearing the scars of a decades-long civil war to find renewed hope in the Eucharist and the Risen Christ. Speaking in Portuguese to a crowd gathered in Kilamba, a planned residential district about 18 miles south of the capital Luanda, the pope delivered a homily that wove together the Biblical story of the disciples on the road to Emmaus with Angola’s painful modern history. “The history of your country, the ongoing difficult consequences you endure, the social and economic problems and the various forms of poverty call for the presence of a Church that knows how to walk alongside you,” Pope Leo said, adding that the Eucharist has the power to “rekindle lost hope.” Pope Leo XIV receives the offertory gifts from a family as he celebrates Mass at Saurimo esplanade in northeastern Angola April 20, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media) The pope’s first Mass in Angola was the only Sunday Mass during his trip, which included visits to Algeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea as well as Angola, which is home to more than 20 million Catholics, and its Church is considered one of the oldest Catholic communities in southern Africa, with roots stretching back to 15th-century Portuguese exploration and later colonization. Drawing on the day’s Gospel account of the road to Emmaus, Pope Leo described Angola as a “beautiful yet wounded country, which hungers and thirsts for hope, peace, and fraternity.” He cautioned against the despair that can settle over a people long marked by suffering, much like the two disciples who walked in grief after the crucifixion. “When one is long immersed in a history so characterized by pain, one can risk losing hope and remaining paralyzed by discouragement, just like the two disciples,” he said. “Dear friends, the Good News of the Lord, even for us today, is precisely this: He is alive, He has risen, and He walks beside us as we journey along the path of suffering and bitterness, opening our eyes so that we may recognize His work and granting us the grace to start afresh and rebuild the future,” the pope said. Pope Leo XIV visits St. Paul Catholic Hospital, in Douala, Cameroon, April 17, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media) Pope Leo also issued a pastoral caution, urging Angolan Catholics to remain rooted in Church teaching and not to blend the faith with what he described as “magical and superstitious elements” drawn from traditional religious practices. “Remain faithful to what the Church teaches, trust your pastors, and keep your gaze fixed on Jesus, who reveals Himself in the word and in the Eucharist,” he said. The energy of Angola’s young and growing Catholic community was on full display. About three out of four Angolans are under 30, and many in the crowd had traveled long distances for the occasion. The vitality of Catholicism in Angola is reflected in its numbers. The country counts 2,366 major seminarians and 1,598 minor seminarians preparing for ordained ministry, according to Vatican statistics. Pope Leo landed in Angola on Saturday, April 18, to begin his three-day visit to the country in southern Africa. His visit comes as Angola continues to grapple with deep social challenges. Despite robust economic growth fueled by oil and diamond revenues, the country ranks among the world’s lowest in life expectancy and among the highest in infant mortality. Inequality and corruption remain persistent concerns in the country still healing from a decades-long civil war. “Dear friends, I have mentioned the material riches upon which powerful interests lay their claim, even within your own country. How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism,” the pope said in his first speech to Angola’s government authorities. Pope Leo urged Angola’s wealthy political leaders to “place the common good before every particular interest, never confusing your own part with the whole.” “The Catholic Church, whose service to the country I know you greatly esteem, desires to be leaven in the dough and to foster the growth of a just model of coexistence, free from the various forms of slavery imposed by the elite who are laden with much wealth but false joys,” he said. Pope Leo XIV leads the rosary at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Muxima in Muxima, Angola, April 19, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media) Following Mass on April 19, Pope Leo led tens of thousands of Angolan Catholics in praying the Rosary at the country’s most visited Catholic Marian shrine, the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima, which means “Mother of the Heart” in the local Kimbundu language. Local authorities estimated approximately 30,000 pilgrims gathered on the Muxima shrine’s esplanade for the recitation of the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary. “We are in a sanctuary where, for centuries, many men and women have prayed in times of joy and also in moments of sorrow and great suffering in the history of this country,” the pope said in Portuguese. “For a long time now, Mama Muxima has quietly worked to keep the heart of the Church alive and beating.” In the Footsteps of St. Augustine Pope Leo began his journey in Algeria, where he landed on Monday, April 13, becoming the first pope to make an apostolic journey to the North Africa nation. Speaking to journalists on the flight to Algiers, Pope Leo revealed that his trip to Africa was “meant to be the first trip of the pontificate.” Calling the trip “very special for several reasons,” the pope said it is “a blessing for me personally,” expressing hope that the visit will also be a blessing “for the Church and the world.” On the first day of his visit, Pope Leo honored Algeria’s Christian martyrs during an evening visit to the Basilica of Our Lady of Africa, highlighting their enduring witness in a predominantly Muslim nation. He said their sacrifice remains “a living seed that never ceases to bear fruit,” praising the 19 religious killed in the 1990s civil war, including the Trappist monks of Tibhirine, whose story was depicted in the 2010 French film “Of Gods and Men.” “It is precisely love for their brothers and sisters that inspired the witness of the martyrs we have commemorated,” the pope said. “In the face of hatred and violence, they remained faithful to charity even to the point of sacrificing themselves alongside many other men and women, Christians and Muslims.” The pope, a member of the Augustinian order, celebrated Mass on Tuesday, April 14, at the basilica built near the site where St. Augustine died nearly 1,600 years ago. Pope Leo XIV prays as he visits the archaeological site of Hippo Regius in Annaba, Algeria, April 14, 2026. (OSV News photo/Simone Risoluti, Vatican Media) “Here the martyrs prayed; here St. Augustine loved his flock, fervently seeking the truth and serving Christ with ardent faith,” the pope said in his homily, which he delivered in French. “Be heirs to this tradition, bearing witness through fraternal charity to the freedom of those born from above as a hope of salvation for the world.” In the Wake of Violence Pope Leo XIV arrived in Cameroon on Wednesday, April 15, urging peace in a country marked by separatist conflict. Addressing civil leaders in Yaoundé, he said he came “as a shepherd and as a servant of dialogue, fraternity and peace,” underlining that “there is such a hunger and thirst for justice” in the country. Sitting next to Cameroonian authoritarian President Paul Biya, Pope Leo described the toll of violence since 2017, saying, “Lives have been lost, families displaced, children deprived of schooling and young people no longer see a future,” adding, “behind the numbers are the faces, stories and shattered hopes of real people.” Just days before the pope’s visit, separatists announced a temporary ceasefire. Pope Leo stressed that peace “is everyone’s responsibility, beginning with civil authorities.” On the evening of April 15, Pope Leo XIV brought joy to 64 orphaned and abandoned children when he visited the Ngul Zamba orphanage in Cameroon, blessing the children and assuring them that despite their suffering, Jesus “cares especially for children like you.” The orphanage, whose name means “the power of God” in the Ewondo language, is run by the Congregation of the Daughters of Mary and currently houses children ranging in age from 3 to 20 years old. “Dear children, I know that many of you have endured difficult trials,” the pope told the children, speaking in French. “Some of you have known the pain of loss through the death of parents or loved ones. Others have experienced fear, rejection, abandonment, deprivation and uncertainty. Yet, you are called to a future that is greater than your wounds.” On Thursday, April 16, Pope Leo delivered a forceful call for peace during an emotional gathering in Bamenda. Among those addressing the pope was Sister Carine Tangiri Mangu, who recalled being kidnapped by separatists and held for three days without food or sleep. She said constant prayer of the Rosary sustained their hope. At St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the pope declared, “I am here to proclaim peace,” while condemning those who profit from war and exploit religion for violence. Pope Leo encouraged leaders in the country and the faithful to remain hopeful, insisting that God has not abandoned them. On Friday, April 17, in Douala, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for more than 120,000 people in Cameroon’s largest, urging the “beloved children of the African continent” to respond to hunger with both charity and faith, sharing material food and “the bread of life.” Speaking that day at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, Pope Leo warned that artificial intelligence could reshape how humanity relates to truth. He urged students to pair technical skill with ethical formation in a rapidly digital world. “Like every great historical transformation, this too calls not only for technical competence but also for a humanistic formation,” he said, cautioning that some digital spaces are “structured to persuade.” He warned that simulated environments risk eroding real human connection, saying, “When simulation becomes the norm, it weakens the human capacity for discernment.” He added: “What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth.” Calling students back to reality, the pope said, “Dear friends, you, however, are real persons!” He also urged Catholic universities to form ethical leaders, confront corruption as a “scourge,” and prepare graduates to serve the common good with integrity. Pope Leo was scheduled to wrap up his visit to Africa in Equatorial Guinea from April 21-23. The post Pope Leo Preaches Peace, Accompaniment in Africa appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less