On a Saturday in April, Pope Leo XIV landed in Luanda, carrying his Africa journey into Angola as its third stop, after a Mass in Yaoundé had drawn a crowd estimated at 200,000. In a land where oil and minerals run deep yet many people still live in want, he arrives with an old question about who benefits from a nation's wealth. His message, shaped in Cameroon, asks the young to stay and hope, and asks the powerful to stop plundering resources and people for gain. The visit marks the midpoint of his journey, and what happens next depends on whether those words take root in the conversations of
Pope Leo XIV Arrives in Angola, Opening Third Leg of Africa Tour With Call for Peace and Justice
Rich in oil and minerals, yet much of the population still lives in poverty
On a Saturday in April, Pope Leo XIV landed in Luanda, carrying his Africa journey into Angola as its third stop, after a Mass in Yaoundé had drawn a crowd estimated at 200,000. In a land where oil and minerals run deep yet many people still live in want, he arrives with an old question about who benefits from a nation's wealth. His message, shaped in Cameroon, asks the young to stay and hope, and asks the powerful to stop plundering resources and people for gain. The visit marks the midpoint of his journey, and what happens next depends on whether those words take root in the conversations of the people who live there.
Pope Leo XIV's plane landed in Luanda on Saturday, bringing him to Angola for the third stop of his four-nation journey through Africa. Before arriving, he had spent days in Cameroon, where a Mass in Yaoundé drew an estimated 200,000 worshippers and gave the visit its most striking image.
On the flight, the Pope was asked about the tensions surrounding the Iran conflict and his recent exchanges with U.S. President Donald Trump. He said it was "not in my interest at all" to take part in political debate, and that he would continue to preach peace through the Gospel.
The message he carried from Cameroon is the one he is expected to bring to Angola. He urged young people to hold on to hope and resist the temptation to migrate, and he made a harder demand of political and economic elites: stop exploiting natural resources and local people for profit.
Angola gives that demand a pointed setting. The country is rich in oil and minerals, yet much of its population still lives in poverty, a gap the source ties to colonial rule and uneven development.
The visit sits at the midpoint of the tour. What to watch is whether his words on resource wealth and social justice find an echo in Angola's public debate, and how the final leg builds on them.
Pope Leo XIV's plane touched down in Luanda on Saturday, bringing him to Angola for the third stop of a four-nation journey through Africa. He arrived from Cameroon, where the days before had been dominated by a single large gathering: a Mass in the capital, Yaoundé, attended by an estimated 200,000 worshippers.
The flight itself produced news. Speaking on board, the Pope addressed the tensions around the Iran conflict and his recent exchanges with U.S. President Donald Trump. Leo said it was "not in my interest at all" to engage in political debate. He said he would keep preaching peace through the Gospel instead.
The message he carried in Cameroon is the one he is expected to bring to Angola. To young people there, he urged hope and asked them to resist the temptation to migrate. To political and economic elites, he made a harder demand: stop exploiting natural resources and local populations for profit.
Angola gives that appeal a pointed setting. The country is rich in oil and minerals, yet much of its population still lives in poverty. The source describes that gap as a legacy of colonial rule and uneven development, and it is the kind of contrast the Pope has already named in his remarks on the continent.
The visit sits at the midpoint of the tour, which is being watched as both a spiritual mission and a broader appeal for justice and reform across Africa. The reporting so far describes what he said in Cameroon and what is expected in Angola; it does not yet detail his Angolan program or whom he will meet.
What to watch next is whether his words on resource wealth and social justice find an echo in local debate once he is on the ground in Luanda, and how the final leg of the tour builds on them.
Citações Notáveis
It is "not in my interest at all" to engage in political debate; he will keep preaching peace through the Gospel.— Pope Leo XIV, speaking on the flight from Cameroon
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