Mr President,
Distinguished Civil Authorities
and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a source of great joy for me to be in your midst. I express my gratitude to you, Mr President, for the invitation to visit Angola and for your kind words of welcome. I have come among you as a pilgrim, seeking the signs of God’s presence in this land so beloved by him.

Before continuing, I would like to offer the assurance of my prayers for the victims of the heavy rains and floods that have struck the province of Benguela, and to express my closeness to the families who have lost their homes. I also know that you, the people of Angola, are united in a great chain of solidarity with those affected.

I desire to meet you in the spirit born of peace and to affirm that your people possess treasures that cannot be bought or taken away. In particular, there dwells within you a joy that not even the most adverse circumstances have been able to extinguish. This joy — which is no stranger to sorrow, indignation, disappointment and defeat — endures and is continually reborn among those who have kept their hearts and minds free from the seductions of wealth. You know well that all too often people have looked — and continue to look — to your lands in order to give, or, more commonly, in order to take. It is necessary to break this cycle of interests, which reduces reality, and even life itself, to mere commodities.

For the entire world, Africa is a reservoir of joy and hope, which are virtues that I would not hesitate to call “political,” because her young people and her poor continue to dream and to hope. They are not content with what already exists; they strive to rise above, to prepare themselves for great responsibilities, and to take an active part in shaping their own future. Indeed, the wisdom of a people cannot be stifled by any ideology, and the longing for the infinite that dwells in the human heart is a principle of social transformation far deeper than any political or cultural program. I am here among you, at the service of the finest powers that animate the persons and communities, of which Angola is a rich and vibrant mosaic. I wish to listen to and encourage all those who have already chosen the paths of goodness, justice, peace, tolerance and reconciliation. At the same time, together with the millions of men and women of good will who constitute the primary wealth of this country, I also pray for the conversion of those who choose contrary paths and hinder its harmonious and fraternal development.

Dear friends, I have mentioned the material riches upon which powerful interests lay their claim, even within your own country. How much suffering, how many deaths, how many social and environmental disasters are brought about by this logic of extractivism! At every level, we see how it sustains a model of development that discriminates and excludes, while still presuming to impose itself as the only viable option. Saint Paul VI, with keen insight into the concerns of younger generations, already sixty years ago denounced the “senile and definitely out-of-date aspect of a commercial, hedonistic and materialistic civilization which is still trying to present itself as the gateway to the future.” He observed: “Even in its very excesses, the instinctive reaction of many young people against this illusion takes on a certain importance. This generation is waiting for something else” (Apostolic Exhortation Gaudete in Domino, VI). You are witnesses — thanks to the ancient wisdom that shapes your thoughts and sensibilities — that creation is harmony in the richness of diversity. Your people have suffered time and again when this harmony was violated by the arrogance of a few. They bear the scars not only of material exploitation, but also of the presumption of imposing an idea upon others. Africa urgently needs to overcome situations and dynamics of conflict and enmity that tear apart the social and political fabric of many countries, fostering poverty and exclusion. Only in encounter does life flourish. Dialogue is the first step. This does not rule out disagreement, which can turn into conflict.

My venerable predecessor, Pope Francis, offered an unforgettable reflection in this regard: “When conflict arises, some people simply look at it and go their way as if nothing happened; they wash their hands of it and get on with their lives. Others embrace it in such a way that they become its prisoners; they lose their bearings, project onto institutions their own confusion and dissatisfaction and thus make unity impossible. But there is also a third way, and it is the best way to deal with conflict. It is the willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it and to make it a link in the chain of a new process. ‘Blessed are the peacemakers!’ (Mt 5:9)” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 227). Angola can experience great growth if, first of all, those who hold authority in the country believe in the manifold nature of its riches. Do not be afraid of disagreement; do not suppress the ideas of the young or the dreams of the elderly; and know how to manage conflicts by transforming them into paths of renewal. Place the common good before every particular interest, never confusing your own part with the whole. History will then vindicate you, even if in the near term some may oppose you.

I have spoken of the joy and hope that characterize your young society. While these are often considered merely as personal, private sentiments, they are, in truth, a profound and empowering force — one that resists every form of resignation and every temptation to close in on oneself. Despots and tyrants of both body and spirit seek to render souls passive and passions gloomy; they prefer a populace prone to inertia, docile and subservient to power. For in sadness, we are indeed at the mercy of our fears and imagination; we take refuge in fanaticism, in submission, in the deafening noise of the media, in the glimmer of gold, in the identitarian myth. Discontent, a sense of powerlessness and uprootedness divide us rather than bringing us together. This spreads a climate of estrangement from the public sphere, contempt for the misfortune of others and the negation of all fraternity. Such discord disintegrates the constitutive relationships that each person maintains with oneself, with others and with reality. As Pope Francis also observed: “The best way to dominate and gain control over people is to spread despair and discouragement, even under the guise of defending certain values. Today, in many countries, hyperbole, extremism and polarization have become political tools” (Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti,, 15).

True joy frees us from such alienation — joy which faith rightly recognizes as a gift of the Holy Spirit. As Saint Paul wrote: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace” (Gal 5:22). Indeed, joy intensifies life and leads to the creation of community: each person rejoices by putting to use his or her relational capacities, realizing one’s contribution to the common good and receiving recognition as a unique and worthy person within a community of growing encounters that enlarge the spirit. Joy knows how to carve paths even in the darkest zones of stagnation and hardship. Let us therefore examine our own hearts, dear friends, because without joy there is no renewal; without interiority there is no liberation; without encounter there is no politics; without the other there is no justice.

Together, you can make Angola a project of hope. The Catholic Church, whose service to the country I know you greatly esteem, desires to be leaven in the dough and to foster the growth of a just model of coexistence, free from the various forms of slavery imposed by the elite who are laden with much wealth but false joys. Only together can we multiply the talents of this wonderful people, even in the urban peripheries and the remotest rural areas, where life is vibrant and the future of the people is being prepared. Let us remove the obstacles to integral human development, working and hoping together alongside those whom the world has discarded but whom God has chosen. For thus our hope has arisen: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone” (Ps 118:22), Jesus Christ, the fullness of man and of history.

May God bless Angola!

Thank you.