Pope wraps up Cameroon visit with Mass as he looks ahead to Angola

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YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Pope Leo XIV called Saturday for “structures of solidarity” to help those on the margins as he wrapped up his visit to Cameroon and headed to Angola on the third leg of his four-nation African odyssey.

Leo celebrated Mass at the Yaounde Airport for thousands of people, including President Paul Biya — at 93 the world’s oldest leader. The jostling, joyful atmosphere underscored the joy the third pope to visit Cameroon has brought the former French colony, where around a third of the population is Catholic.

Some people who struggled to walk were brought to the Mass in wheelbarrows pushed by family members.

In his visit to Cameroon, Leo has sought to encourage especially young people to have hope despite senses of disillusionment, and he has demanded elites stop exploiting the land and its people for profit.

In his homily Saturday, delivered in French, Leo said the respect for human dignity was a cornerstone of every society.

“For this reason, every community has the obligation to create and sustain structures of solidarity and mutual aid in which, when faced with crises — be they social, political, medical or economic — everyone can give and receive assistance according to their own capacity and needs,” he said.

After the Mass, Leo was to fly to Luanda, the capital of the southwestern African nation, where he was to meet with President Joao Lourenco and deliver his first speech before Angolan government authorities.

Angola, a southern African country of around 38 million, gained independence from Portugal in 1975. But it still bears the scars of a devastating civil war that began straight after independence and raged on and off for 27 years before finally ending in 2002. More than half a million people are believed to have been killed.

The civil war was for years a Cold War proxy conflict, with the United States and apartheid South Africa backing one side and the Soviet Union and Cuba backing the other.

“I would like to hear a message of peace, a message of reconciliation," said Luanda resident Sergio Jose. "I would also like to hear good political messages and I would also like to hear that the pope would also talk about the upcoming elections in Angola.”

Angola today is the fourth largest oil producer in Africa and among the world’s top 20 producers, according to the International Energy Agency. It’s also the world’s third biggest diamond producer and has significant deposits of gold and highly sought after critical minerals.

But despite its varied natural resources, the World Bank estimated in 2023 that more than 30% of the population lived on less than $2.15 a day.

In Cameroon, Leo had railed against the “chains of corruption” that were hindering development, as well as the “handful of tyrants” who were ravaging the Earth with war and exploitation. He's expected to raise similar points in Angola.

Late former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who led Angola for 38 years from 1979 to 2017, was accused of diverting billions of dollars of public money to his family, largely from the country’s oil revenue, as millions struggled in poverty.

After Lourenco took over as president, his administration estimated that at least $24 billion was stolen or misappropriated by dos Santos. Lourenco's administration has vowed to crack down on corruption and has worked to recover funds allegedly stolen in the dos Santos era.

But critics note Angola still has deep problems with corruption and have questioned if Lourenco’s actions were more aimed at political rivals so as to consolidate his power.

Angola, on the southwest coast of Africa, was considered to be the epicenter of the transatlantic slave trade as a Portuguese colony. More than 5 million of the roughly 12.5 million enslaved Africans were sent across the ocean on ships departing from Angola, more than any other country, though not all them were Angolans.

The highlight of Leo’s visit to Angola is expected to be his visit Sunday to Muxima, south of Luanda. It's a popular Catholic shrine in a country where around 58% of the population is Catholic.

The Church of Our Lady of Muxima was built by Portuguese colonizers at the end of the 16th century as part of a fortress complex and became a hub in the slave trade. It remains a reminder of the inextricable link hundreds of years ago between Catholicism and the exploitation of the African continent.

Leo, history's first U.S.-born pope, has Black and white ancestors who included both enslaved people and slave owners, according to genealogical research. He is going to Muxima to pray the Rosary, in recognition of the site becoming a popular pilgrimage destination after believers reported an appearance by the Virgin Mary around 1833.

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Imray contributed from Cape Town, South Africa.

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