Angola. “We cannot host the ‘Messenger of Peace’ with our hearts full of hate”
As the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to hear the Gospel prepares to receive a visit from Pope Leo XIV, the Church makes a renewed appeal for reconciliation in Angola.
Pope Leo XIV will be visiting Angola in April, as part of an Apostolic trip to Africa which includes Equatorial Guinea, Algeria and Cameroon. This trip is generating enormous interest throughout the society, with the local Church hoping that the Pope’s 18-21 April visit might lead to the end of political and social divisions in the African nation.
In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Estanislau Chindecasse, of Dundo, in the east of the country, and vice-president of the Bishops Conference, says that “above all, it is a great grace to host the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. He has not even been Pope for a year, and already he is visiting Angola.”
Bishop Chindecasse highlights the fact that the Pope will be visiting Saurimo, in the east, which is home to an important diamond mining industry on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo. “For us, in the east of Angola, it is even more joyful. With the prophet Isaiah we can say: Now, you, Eastern Angola, will no longer be desolate; you will no longer be abandoned, for the Holy Father is to visit the east for the first time. This is a great grace, a time to strengthen our communion with the Holy Father; internally, among the Church, but also for society at large,” the bishop tells the pontifical charity ACN.
Bishop Estanislau Chindecasse emphasises that the Pope is coming to Angola as a pilgrim of hope, reconciliation and peace. “These are three very important and highly topical issues for our Church today. Therefore, we are going to prepare for this visit through catechesis, prayer and meetings, so that we may truly deepen our understanding and not squander this great opportunity that God is offering us, by sending his representative on earth in the person of Pope Leo XIV, the man who has spoken of peace, of unarmed peace,” says the Bishop of Dundo.
Angola is a former Portuguese colony. Following Independence in 1975 the country was embroiled in a prolonged civil war. Although the war has since ended, the nation is still plagued by division and extreme poverty, despite immense natural resources.
In a pastoral message published in anticipation of the Papal visit, the Angolan bishops say that this is a perfect occasion to promote unity. “We need to prepare through a personal conversion, and turn this visit into an opportunity to heal our internal wounds. We cannot host the ‘Messenger of Peace’ with our hearts full of hate, resentment, division and strife. Reconciliation must begin in each heart, in each family and in each civic, sporting, professional or party-political organisation,” says the note.
The bishops also recall that Angola was the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to receive the Gospel and was also home to the first baptisms. According to the bishops’ pastoral note, the first black African bishop was also from the region that is now Angola, ordained at the beginning of the XVI century.
ACN has been supporting the Church in Angola for decades, through projects such as the renovation of churches, chapels and other Church structures, including schools which prove essential for the first stages of evangelisation. The pontifical foundation also supports the formation of priests, religious, seminarians and lay people, and provides subsistence aid for clergy and sisters. Also significant is the support it provides for the mobility of priests and catechists through the provision of cars and motorbikes, which are essential for pastoral work in a country where the roads are in very poor condition.
