Pope hails joy of Angola’s people, denounces extractivism

April 18, 2026

Pope Leo XIV arrived this afternoon in Angola, the third nation he is visiting during his apostolic journey to four African nations.

Located in southern Africa (map), the nation of 39 million is 92% Christian (52% Catholic) and 6% ethnic religionist.

Following a welcome ceremony at Quatro de Fevereiro Airport in Luanda (video), Pope Leo paid a courtesy visit to President João Lourenço (video). He then addressed political civil leaders and members of the diplomatic corps.

“I desire to meet you in the spirit born of peace and to affirm that your people possess treasures that cannot be bought or taken away,” the Pope said. “In particular, there dwells within you a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish.”

“This joy—which is no stranger to sorrow, indignation, disappointment and defeat—endures and is continually reborn among those who have kept their hearts and minds free from the seductions of wealth,” the Pope continued. “You know well that all too often people have looked—and continue to look—to your lands in order to give, or, more commonly, in order to take. It is necessary to break this cycle of interests, which reduces reality, and even life itself, to mere commodities.”

The Pope added:

Dear friends, I have mentioned the material riches upon which powerful interests lay their claim, even within your own country. How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism! At every level, we see how it sustains a model of development that discriminates and excludes, while still presuming to impose itself as the only viable option. ...

You are witnesses—thanks to the ancient wisdom that shapes your thoughts and sensibilities—that creation is harmony in the richness of diversity. Your people have suffered time and again when this harmony was violated by the arrogance of a few. They bear the scars not only of material exploitation, but also of the presumption of imposing an idea upon others. Africa urgently 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.

“Do 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,” the Pope advised the nation’s political and civil leaders. “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.”

The Pontiff concluded:

Together, you can make Angola a project of hope. The Catholic Church, whose service to the country I know you greatly esteem, desires to be leaven in the dough and to foster the growth of a just model of coexistence, free from the various forms of slavery imposed by the elite who are laden with much wealth but false joys.

Only together can we multiply the talents of this wonderful people, even in the urban peripheries and the remotest rural areas, where life is vibrant and the future of the people is being prepared. Let us remove the obstacles to integral human development, working and hoping together alongside those whom the world has discarded but whom God has chosen.

For thus our hope has arisen: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Ps 118:22), Jesus Christ, the fullness of man and of history. May God bless Angola!

 

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Further information:

• Apostolic Journey to Angola: Meeting with the Authorities, Civil Society and the Diplomatic Corps (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 4/18/26)