The Eucharist can ‘rekindle lost hope,’ Pope Leo says at Sunday Mass in Angola

KILAMBA, Angola (OSV News) — 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.”

Kilamba itself reveals Angola’s complex post-war development — the planned city was built by the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) under a bilateral financing agreement between the Angolan and Chinese governments, a reminder of Beijing’s growing economic footprint across the African continent.

The pope’s first Mass in Angola was the only Sunday Mass during the pope’s 11-day tour of Africa. Angola 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. 

A nation ‘hungry and thirsty for hope’

Drawing on Sunday’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.

A warning on syncretism

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 remarks reflect a long-standing concern among Catholic leaders in sub-Saharan Africa, where local spiritual traditions sometimes intermingle with Catholic worship.

Faithful travel far to attend

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.

José Capita, 26, drove two days from the Diocese of Cabinda to attend. “It was so tired, but we are here,” he said. “It was too difficult, but we are here — it is most important.”

Franciscan Brother Turíbio da Cruz, 23, who ministers to the poor in Luanda, said the visit carries special meaning during the Church’s Jubilee Year of St. Francis. “We work with the poor,” he said. “What we want is to be close to the people.”

Rita Maleca, a Kilamba resident who attended the Mass with her husband and four children, said she felt it was important to experience the papal Mass as a family. “Family is important because family is the base of all,” she said. “All society starts in the family.”

A Church full of energy

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. 

Among them is Mayomona Dinis, who said he has felt called to the priesthood since childhood. 

“I have not chosen anything,” he said. “It is God who chose me.” 

He described the atmosphere among Angola’s faithful as energetic, particularly during the Mass. 

“You are going to appreciate our energy,” he said before the Mass began. “Because Christ comes to us.”

“We can see the energy of these people every single time they are praying for God. Every single time they are dancing because it is our … worship to God,” Dinis said. 

Pope Leo closed his homily by entrusting the Angolan people to the intercession of the Virgin Mary under her local title. In the afternoon, the pope is scheduled to go on pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Muxima, one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in southern Africa, where he will lead a Rosary.

“I entrust you to the protection and intercession of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Muxima, that she may always sustain you in faith, hope, and charity,” the pope said.

Courtney Mares is Vatican editor for OSV News. Follow her on X @catholicourtney.

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