The Pope addresses Angola’s 27-year war and its resource curse

Pope Leo urged Angolans on Sunday to overcome divisions rooted in decades of conflict, delivering his message at two large celebrations attended by over 130,000 people.

• Pope Leo called on Angolans to overcome decades-old divisions and end hatred and violence during celebrations attended by over 130,000 people.
• He referred to Angola as a ‘beautiful yet wounded country’ due to its 27-year civil war.
• He condemned the ongoing exploitation of Africa’s natural resources, warning it brings suffering and instability.
• The Pope led an open-air Mass in Kilamba and later visited the historic Muxima shrine, a former hub of the slave trade.

During the liturgical service, he described Angola, a nation that endured a 27-year civil war between 1975 and 2002, as a "beautiful yet wounded country."

He continued, noting that the people of Angola should "build together ​a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear."

The first was an open-air Mass in Kilamba, a large housing neighborhood on the outskirts of Luanda. From there, he flew by helicopter to the old Catholic shrine at Muxima.

The shrine, located some 130 kilometers southeast of the capital on the banks of the Kwanza River, drew massive crowds who sang and danced in the stifling heat as the Pope passed by in a white golf cart.

"It is love that must triumph, ​not war!" he said.

Muxima, now a major pilgrimage destination, was originally erected as part of a 16th-century Portuguese castle, as seen on Reuters.

It was at the hub of the transatlantic slave trade, which historians estimate took over six million people from what is now Angola and sent them to the Americas.

During the tour, the Pope denounced the continuous exploitation of Africa's natural resources, warning that such activities could create discontent and instability across the continent.

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“Too often your lands have been looked at in order to give, or more frequently, to take something. It is necessary to break this chain of interests that reduces reality and life itself to a mere commodity,” the pope stated.

“This extractive logic brings suffering, death, and social and environmental disasters in every part of the world,” he added.

Furthermore, the Pontiff exhorted political figures to prioritize the welfare of the general citizenry over the pursuit of corporate objectives.

"History will then vindicate you, even if in the near term some may oppose you," Pope Leo stated.