Pope Leo urged Angolans on Sunday (April 19) to overcome divisions after decades of blood conflict in one of the biggest events of his four-nation Africa tour, with roughly 100,000 people flocking to a Mass in a field in Kilamba, near the capital of Luanda.

Some believers had arrived in the sprawling urban development in the early morning hours in hot, humid conditions to hear an address from the pope, who has become outspoken on war and inequality and angered U.S. President Donald Trump.

By the opening of the event, throngs were spread out over the expansive dirt field, dancing and shouting as Leo drove among them in his white popemobile.

The pope called Angola, which experienced a bloody, 27-year civil war from 1975 to 2002, a "beautiful yet wounded country."

He urged Angolans to "build together a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear."

Angola is one of the leading oil-producing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, but its population of 36.6 million people is still confronting extreme poverty, with more than 30% living on less than $2.15 per day, according to the World Bank.

More than half of the country identifies as Catholic.

Leo, the first U.S. pope, is visiting Angola on the third leg of a four-nation Africa tour. In a speech to the country's political leaders on Saturday, he decried the exploitation of natural resources on the continent.

The pope blasted "despots and tyrants" who he said guarantee wealth but do not deliver on their promises, leading to suffering and deaths.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

LUANDA, ANGOLA (APRIL 19, 2026) (TPA ANGOLA – Access All)

1. VARIOUS OF POPE LEO ARRIVING WAVING TO CROWDS

2. CROWDS

3. POPE LEO SEATED ON POPE MOBILE

4. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE DANCING HOLDING PICTURES OF POPE LEO

5. AERIAL VIEW OF VENUE

6. PEOPLE CARRYING BRAZIL AND PANAMA FLAGS IN CROWD

7. CROWD

8. CHOIR SINGING

9. VARIOUS OF POPE LEO WALKING IN PROCESSION

10. CHOIR SINGING

11. CLERIC REMOVING PAPAL STAFF AND MITRE / POPE BOWING

12. VARIOUS OF POPE USING INCENSE AT ALTAR

13. PEOPLE STANDING

14. WOMAN SINGING

15. ALTAR

16. PEOPLE SINGING

17. VARIOUS OF CROWD SEATED

18. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) POPE LEO, SAYING:

"Brothers and sisters, in this first scene of the Gospel, I see reflected the history of Angola, this beautiful but wounded country, which hungers and thirsts for hope, peace, and fraternity. Indeed, along the road, the conversation of the two disciples, who recall with discouragement what happened to their Master, brings to mind the pain that marked your country: a long civil war with its trail of enmities and divisions, wasted resources, and poverty."

19. PEOPLE LISTENING

20. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) POPE LEO, SAYING:

"And just as the Eucharist reminds us that we are one body and one spirit, united to the one Lord, so we too can and wish to build a country where old divisions are overcome forever, where hatred and violence disappear, where the wound of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing. Only in this way will a future of hope be possible, especially for the many young people who have lost it."

21. ALTAR

22. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) POPE LEO, SAYING:

"A Church which like the light of the word and the nourishment of the Eucharist, knows how to rekindle lost hope. A Church made up of people like you, who are willing to walk as Jesus did, to break bread for the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Angola needs bishops, priests, missionaries, religious men and women, and lay people, who have in their hearts the desire to share their lives and give themselves to one another and to act in mutual love and forgiveness."

23. PEOPLE SEATED

24. ALTAR