Luanda: Angola
Tens of thousands people (estimated over one million)
participating in the concluding Mass
of Pope Benedict's first African visit...
LUANDA, Angola – Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass for the largest gathering of his African pilgrimage Sunday, telling a crowd on the outskirts of this seaside capital that reconciliation on the war-ravaged continent would come only with a "change of heart, a new way of thinking."
The Vatican said as many as 1 million people turned out on the dusty field near a cement factory to hear the pope at the last major event of his seven-day trip, which began Tuesday in Cameroon.
Speaking from a tented pink altar, the pope said evils in Africa had "reduced the poor to slavery and deprived future generations of the resources needed to create a more solid and just society."
"How true it is that war can destroy everything of value," said Benedict, wearing a pink cape and mopping his sweaty brow with a white handkerchief kept inside his sleeve.
Later he was scheduled to meet with representatives of women's rights groups to praise the role of women in African society.
Angolans have been enslaved, subjugated and at war almost nonstop since Portuguese colonizers brought the first Catholic missionaries in 1491. Many of the slaves taken to Brazil, for example, came from Angola.
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"It must be because the Pope's presence in Luanda. I am impressed by Angolan people's strength and enthusiasm shown during the Pope's visit. There are the thousands and thousands of people on the streets throughout Benedict XVI's route, expressing their joy and thanking him for his visit. I am also impressed by the capability of organization of Angolans. People are dressed up in white, wearing hats with the Pope's effigy, there are thousands of pilgrims from all over the country, women from all provinces, as if wanting to say that Angola expresses gratitude, to the apostle, for the peace that country has found."
---------------------------Helder de Souza
[AFRICA : Pope: only the light of God can overcome the great "darkness" cast by war and greed During the Mass celebrated in Luanda in front of a million people, Benedict XVI speaks of prayer for reconciliation and peace, which, from Africa, embrace the entire world, and urges men all over the world to pray for "this great Continent so filled with hope, yet so thirsty for justice, for peace, for a sound and integral development that can ensure a future of progress and peace for its people." Commemoration of the two young people who died in a stampede at the stadium. Luanda (AsiaNews) Only the light of God can overcome the great "darkness" present in "many parts of our world," the evil represented by wars and tribal violence, but also by the egoism of men who exploit other men, leading to that hedonism which is at the source of escape into drugs, "sexual irresponsibility," destruction of families and innocent human lives through abortion. Benedict XVI addressed an invitation to reconciliation and hope to all of Africa, from the esplanade of Cimangola, in Luanda, Angola, where a million people gathered to participate in the great celebration that in a certain way concludes the first trip of Benedict XVI to Africa, from where he will depart again tomorrow. "Our prayer," he said at the Angelus, "rises today from Angola, from Africa, and embraces the whole world. May the men and women from throughout the world who join us in our prayer, turn their eyes to Africa, to this great Continent so filled with hope, yet so thirsty for justice, for peace, for a sound and integral development that can ensure a future of progress and peace for its people." Peace, reconciliation, and justice, which will be the theme of the Synod for Africa next October, take on special resonance in this country where 27 years of civil war have left more than one antipersonnel mine for each of the 13 million inhabitants, and where the enormous natural resources - from oil to diamonds - are giving rise to economic development dominated by China - which does not "interfere" in questions like respect for human rights - with extremely deep social inequalities.] Catholic News
God bless Africa with reconciliation, peace and prosperity!
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