Pope Leo tells Angola during huge Mass to ‘build hope’

On the third leg of his Africa tour, Leo urges Angola to move beyond “divisions” created by its war-scarred past.Pope Leo XIV has addressed tens of thousands of faithful near Angola’s capital, urging the country to overcome “divisions” and “corruption” during a landmark tour of Africa.Speaking at an open-air Mass on Sunday in the town of Kilamba on the outskirts of Luanda, Leo addressed the country’s civil war-scarred past that he said has brought “enmity and division, squandered resources and poverty”.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Trump doubles down in Pope feud, refuses to apologiselist 2 of 3Trump deletes image of himself as Jesus-like saviour after backlashlist 3 of 3Pope Leo visits Cameroon with message of peace amid attacks from Trumpend of list“Today, there is a need to look to the future with hope and to build that hope. Do not be afraid to do so,” Leo said.The pontiff arrived in the Portuguese-speaking nation on Saturday for the third leg of a four-nation tour of the continent, which began in Algeria and Cameroon and will also include a stop in Equatorial Guinea.At a meeting with Angolan officials, including President Joao Lourenco, Leo spoke out against the “suffering” and social and environmental “disasters” caused by the rampant exploitation of natural resources.The remarks in Angola, which endured a decades-long civil war that ended in 2002, continued a theme of Leo’s 11-day tour, during which he has delivered pointed warnings against corruption and the plunder of the continent’s resources.The first United States-born pope has also delivered remarks seen as critical of the US-Israeli war in Iran and US policy, including calling US President Donald Trump’s threat to end Iran’s civilisation “unacceptable”.The pontiff’s rhetoric has put him at odds with Trump, who last week called the Catholic leader “weak” and “terrible for foreign policy”.