Pope Francis “has given so much to the church, with his life, his witness, his words and his gestures,” Pope Leo said on the plane from Angola to Equatorial Guinea.
Gerard O’Connell
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.
Posted inVatican Dispatch
Pope Leo tells Angola’s Catholic leaders: ‘Never cease to denounce injustices.’
On the evening of his last full day in Angola, Pope Leo XIV told the leadership of the Catholic Church in this predominantly Christian country, “Your loyalty to Angola—as it should be throughout the world—is today particularly linked to the proclamation of peace.”
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Pope Leo to Angolans: ‘Build a country where old divisions are overcome forever’
He told them: “Only in this way will a future of hope be possible, especially for the many young people who have lost it.”
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Pope Leo in Angola: ‘Put the common good before partisan interests’
In his first speech on arrival in Luanda, the capital of Angola, Pope Leo called on the state authorities to “put the common good before partisan interests, never confusing your part for the whole.”
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Pope Leo: I am ‘not trying to debate the president’
Some journalists have sought to interpret Leo’s statements in Africa in an anti-Trump light, even though they were all written many days before the president made his statement on social media.
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Pope Leo preaches on hunger to 120,000 at Mass in Cameroon
Pope Leo drew attention to the food crisis and the poverty that is causing great suffering for so many people, even though the land is rich in agricultural and other resources.
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Pope Leo denounces those who use the name God for military gain
“Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
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Pope Leo to Cameroon’s leaders: Break the ‘chains of corruption,’ invest in young people
In a speech that seemed targeted at those in positions of power, Pope Leo said that “serving one’s country means dedicating oneself, with a clear mind and an upright conscience, to the common good of all people in the nation.”
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Pope Leo on plane to Cameroon: St. Augustine invites us to search for God and truth
On the five-hour flight from Algiers to Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, Pope Leo, looking relaxed and in good spirits, spoke for about 10 minutes to the press corps about his visit to Algeria, which he described as “a very blessed trip.”
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Pope Leo walks in the footsteps of St. Augustine in Hippo
On his second day in Algeria, Leo XIV, the first Augustinian pope, visited the archaeological site of ancient Hippo, modern-day Annaba, where once stood the church—“the Basilica of Peace”—where St. Augustine was bishop for 34 years.