On his second day in Angola, Pope Leo celebrated Mass for 100,000 people at Kilamba, a satellite city built by the Chinese, 18 miles south of Luanda, the capital city of this predominantly Christian country. He spoke about the need for reconciliation and for healing of the wounds still open after a civil war that stretched for more than 20 years, ending in 2002.

He called on the people “to build a country where old divisions are overcome forever, where hatred and violence disappear, where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing.” He told them, “Only in this way will a future of hope be possible, especially for the many young people who have lost it.”

There was excitement as he drove in the popemobile among the vast crowd in the esplanade. Many had come here as early as Friday evening and camped out to catch a glimpse of the pontiff. But the atmosphere at Kilamba seemed generally more subdued than at the celebrations in Cameroon, although there was lively music, song and dance.

I spoke to some young people and asked what they felt about the pope’s visit. Arlingo, 25, said he felt “joy at receiving the head of the Catholic church,” and hoped the pope would “bless this land which has many problems, social and economic.”

Dima, a catechist from the province of Huila, which is a 20-hr car ride from Luanda, told me “The visit is a blessing for Angola, that the successor of Peter visits this land.” He hopes the pope will bring “social peace among people.”

Maria-Sol, a construction engineer, said “The pope’s visit is a blessing for our country and our people. I hope he brings peace and solidarity.”

Their expectations are consistent with the motto for Leo’s visit here, which is “pilgrim of hope, peace and reconciliation.” And those words summarise the main elements of the homily Leo gave when he celebrated Mass in Portuguese. In it, he recalled that the Gospel of the day told the story of the risen Jesus meeting the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and Leo, in his homily, linked this story to the history of Angola and the situation here today.

He recalled that the two disciples were going from Jerusalem to Emmaus, “their hearts wounded and sad” after seeing the death of Jesus “in whom they had placed their trust and whom they had followed, and now, disappointed and defeated, they return to their homes;” they were almost “trapped in sorrow.” 

The missionary said, “Brothers and sisters, in this opening scene of the Gospel, I see reflected the history of Angola, of this beautiful and wounded country, which hungers and thirsts for hope, peace, and fraternity. Indeed, the conversation along the road between the two disciples, who reflect with sorrow on what has happened to their Master, brings to mind the pain that has marked your country: a long civil war with its aftermath of enmity and division, of squandered resources and poverty.” 

From 1975 to 2002, the Angolan civil war saw ideological and ethnic rivals fight for control, in what was also a conflict of the Cold War. The Marxist Movement for the Liberation of Angola, supported by Russia and Cuba, fought the anti-Communist National Union for the total Independence of Angola, supported by the United States and South Africa and some western countries. In this war an estimated 500,000 to 800,000 Angolans were killed, hundreds of thousands were injured, and around 4 million lost their homes. The consequences are still being felt today. From the end of that war until today, the MPLA, which transformed itself from being a Marxist party into a social democratic party, has governed the country.

Referring to all this, Pope Leo remarked, “When one is immersed for a long time in a history so marked by pain, one runs the risk of the two disciples of Emmaus: losing hope…and being paralyzed by discouragement. For they are walking, yet their minds are still fixed on the events of three days earlier when they saw Jesus die; they converse with one another, but without hope of a way out; they still speak of what has happened, with the weariness of those who do not know how to begin anew, nor whether it is even possible to do so.”

Leo told them, that the Good News then and “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 anew and to rebuild the future.”  

He said the risen Jesus joined the two downcast disciples and became their traveling companion, and sitting at table and breaking bread, “helps them piece together the fragments of that story, to look beyond the pain, to discover that they are not alone on the journey and that a future, still inhabited by the God of love, awaits them.” 

Pope Leo told the Angolans that in the Gospel story “the path is laid out” for their future, “to begin anew” with, on the one hand, “the certainty that the Lord walks with us and has compassion on us” and, on the other, “the commitment He asks of us.”

He said they experience “the Lord’s companionship” in prayer, in listening to his word in the Scriptures, and in the celebration of the Eucharist. “It is here that we encounter God” he said.  But, he told them, “be vigilant regarding those forms of traditional religiosity, which certainly belong to the roots of your culture, but at the same time risk confusing and mixing in magical and superstitious elements that do not help on the spiritual journey.”

He urged them: “remain faithful to what the church teaches, trust your pastors, and keep your gaze fixed on Jesus, who reveals himself especially in the Word and in the Eucharist” and said, “united with Him, we too overcome ‘the deaths’ that beset us and live as those who have risen.”

He said “this certainty that we are not alone on the journey” is “joined by a generous commitment that can heal wounds and rekindle hope.” Like the disciples who recognized Jesus in the breaking of bread, he said, “we too must recognize him…not only in the Eucharist, but wherever there is a life that becomes broken bread, wherever someone offers the gift of compassion like him.”

Pope Leo told the Angolans, “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 and how to heed the cry of its children. A church that, with the light of the word and the nourishment of the Eucharist, knows how to rekindle lost hope.”

Leo said, “Angola needs bishops, priests, missionaries, men and women religious, and laypeople who carry in their hearts the desire to break their own lives and give them to one another, to commit to mutual love and forgiveness, to build spaces of fraternity and peace, and to perform acts of compassion and solidarity toward those most in need.”

He said that “Just as the Eucharist reminds us that we are one body and one spirit, united to the one Lord, so it is possible to build together a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear, and where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing.” He told them, “only in this way will a promising future be possible, especially for the many young people who have lost hope.”

He concluded by telling some 18 million Angolan Catholics and the 9 million Christians of other denominations in this country of 40 million people, “Brothers and sisters, today we need to look to the future with hope and to build the hope of the future. Do not be afraid to do so!” He assured them “the risen Jesus, who walks the path with you…encourages you to be witnesses of his Resurrection and protagonists of a new humanity and a new society.” And he added, “On this journey, dear friends, you can count on the pope’s closeness and prayers!”

At the end of Mass, Pope Leo spoke about Ukraine and Lebanon, two wars which he has been closely following. “I am deeply saddened by the recent escalation of attacks against Ukraine, which continue to afflict civilians as well,” he said. He expressed “solidarity with those who are suffering and assure[d] all the Ukrainian people of my prayers.” He repeated his call “for weapons to fall silent” and “for the path of dialogue to be pursued.”

Then turning to Lebanon which he visited last year, he said, “the ceasefire announced in Lebanon”—meaning between Israel and Lebanon—“offers cause for hope; it represents a glimmer of relief for the Lebanese people and for the Levant.” He encouraged those “working toward a diplomatic solution to continue peace talks, so that the cessation of hostilities throughout the Middle East may become permanent.” 

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.