The pontiff urged the country to reject exploitative models of development and place the common good above particular interests.<\/p>\n
LUANDA, Angola \u2014 Pope Leo XIV on April 18 called on Angola\u2019s leaders and people to \u201cremove the obstacles to integral human development,\u201d urging them to choose the path of the common good, resist exploitative interests, and preserve the hope and joy that, he said, remain among Africa\u2019s greatest treasures.<\/p>\n
The pope spoke at the presidential palace in Luanda during his meeting with authorities, civil society, and the diplomatic corps, the first public event of the Angola leg of his broader trip to Africa.<\/p>\n
Arriving in Luanda earlier in the day, Leo traveled by popemobile through jubilant crowds lining the route to the palace. He also held a private meeting with Angolan President Jo\u00e3o Louren\u00e7o before delivering his address.<\/p>\n
At the outset of his speech, the pope expressed solidarity with those affected by recent flooding in the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore continuing, I would like to offer the assurance of my prayers for the victims of the heavy rains and floods that have struck the province of Benguela, and to express my closeness to the families who have lost their homes,\u201d he said. \u201cI also know that you, the people of Angola, are united in a great chain of solidarity with those affected.\u201d<\/p>\n
His remarks came against the backdrop of mounting social strains in Angola, including protests last year over fuel price increases, repeated criticism by the country\u2019s bishops over entrenched corruption, and deadly flooding in early April.<\/p>\n
Leo framed his address around themes that have marked earlier stops on his Africa trip, including peace, reconciliation, the common good, and criticism of those who exploit the continent for personal gain.<\/p>\n
Speaking in Portuguese, the pope praised the Angolan people for possessing \u201ctreasures that cannot be bought or taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn particular, there dwells within you a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish,\u201d he said. This joy, he added, \u201cis no stranger to sorrow, indignation, disappointment and defeat,\u201d yet continues to be reborn in those who have resisted \u201cthe seductions of wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pope sharply criticized patterns of exploitation directed at Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know well that all too often people have looked \u2014 and continue to look \u2014 to your lands in order to give, or, more commonly, in order to take,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is necessary to break this cycle of interests, which reduces reality, and even life itself, to mere commodities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo described Africa\u2019s joy and hope as \u201cvirtues that I would not hesitate to call \u2018political,\u2019\u201d because \u201cher young people and her poor continue to dream and to hope.\u201d He said they \u201care not content with what already exists; they strive to rise above, to prepare themselves for great responsibilities, and to take an active part in shaping their own future.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also emphasized that authentic social transformation cannot be imposed ideologically.<\/p>\n
\u201cIndeed, the wisdom of a people cannot be stifled by any ideology, and the longing for the infinite that dwells in the human heart is a principle of social transformation far deeper than any political or cultural program,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The pope said he had come to \u201clisten to and encourage all those who have already chosen the paths of goodness, justice, peace, tolerance and reconciliation,\u201d while also praying \u201cfor the conversion of those who choose contrary paths and hinder its harmonious and fraternal development.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turning to Angola\u2019s natural wealth, Leo warned against what he called a destructive extractive logic.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism!\u201d he said. At every level, he added, it supports \u201ca model of development that discriminates and excludes, while still presuming to impose itself as the only viable option.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Africa \u201curgently needs to overcome situations and dynamics of conflict and enmity that tear apart the social and political fabric of many countries, fostering poverty and exclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only encounter allows life to flourish, the pope said, and dialogue must come first, even when disagreements emerge.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngola can experience great growth if, first of all, those who hold authority in the country believe in the manifold nature of its riches,\u201d he said. \u201cDo not be afraid of disagreement; do not suppress the ideas of the young or the dreams of the elderly; and know how to manage conflicts by transforming them into paths of renewal. Place the common good before every particular interest, never confusing your own part with the whole. History will then vindicate you, even if in the near term some may oppose you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo then returned to the themes of joy and hope, describing them not as merely private sentiments but as forces with public and political consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespots and tyrants of both body and spirit seek to render souls passive and passions gloomy; they prefer a populace prone to inertia, docile and subservient to power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sadness, he argued, leaves people vulnerable to fear, fanaticism, manipulation, and isolation from public life. By contrast, \u201ctrue joy frees us from such alienation,\u201d he said, calling joy \u201ca gift of the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJoy intensifies life and leads to the creation of community,\u201d the pope said. \u201cJoy knows how to carve paths even in the darkest zones of stagnation and hardship.\u201d<\/p>\n
He concluded with an appeal for moral and social renewal.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us therefore examine our own hearts, dear friends, because without joy there is no renewal; without interiority there is no liberation; without encounter there is no politics; without the other there is no justice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leo said the Catholic Church wants to help Angola become \u201ca project of hope\u201d by fostering a just model of coexistence, especially in poor urban neighborhoods and remote rural areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us remove the obstacles to integral human development, working and hoping together alongside those whom the world has discarded but whom God has chosen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n