Joaquim Magalhães de Castro
Even in Angola, a “beautiful but wounded” country, the encounter with the Risen Christ “who walks beside us” can grant us the grace to “renew and rebuild the future.” In Kilamba, a suburb of Luanda, the Angolan capital, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass (on April 19, the Third Sunday of Easter) before a crowd of 100,000 people. A vibrant crowd of expectation and affection, gathered from the early hours of the day on the esplanade in front of the temporary structure where the altar was set up, to hear the words of the Successor of Peter. In his homily, the Bishop of Rome reminded everyone that even the healing of the wounds and sufferings experienced by the Angolan people in the recent chapter of their history can come as a gift and a miracle from the Risen Lord. He does this in light of the Gospel of the day, which recounts the story of the two disciples walking to Emmaus “with broken and sorrowful hearts,” after having witnessed “the death of Jesus, whom they had faithfully followed.” “Their story,” suggests Pope Leo XIII, “reflects in a certain way the history of Angola, a country marked by a long civil war, with its consequences of enmity and division, wasted resources and poverty.” The wound in the hearts of the disciples of Emmaus is healed when they recognize that their mysterious traveling companion is Jesus himself: “He is alive, he has risen and walks beside us as we journey along the path of suffering and bitterness, opening our eyes so that we may recognize his work and granting us the grace to begin again and rebuild the future.” The same experience – the Pontiff suggested – that all are called to share, living in the company of the Lord “in prayer, in listening to his word that inflames our hearts as it inflamed the hearts of the two disciples, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist.” “Therefore,” urged Pope Prévost, “we must always be vigilant regarding those forms of traditional religiosity that certainly belong to the roots of your culture, but which, at the same time, run the risk of confusing and mixing magical and superstitious elements that do not contribute to your spiritual journey. Remain faithful to the teachings of the Church, trust in your pastors, and keep your gaze fixed on Jesus, who reveals himself in the word and in the Eucharist. In both, we experience that the risen Lord walks beside us and, united to Him, we also overcome the “deaths” that surround us and live as those who have “risen.”
The history of Angola, including its recent past, and the conditions of the country, marked by “various forms of poverty,” said the Pontiff, “demand the presence of a Church that knows how to walk alongside it and listen to the cry of its children.” Angola needs “bishops, priests, missionaries, religious men and women, and lay people who carry in their hearts the desire to To ‘break’ their own lives and give them to others, to commit to mutual love and forgiveness, to build spaces of fraternity and peace, and to practice acts of compassion and solidarity towards those most in need. By the grace of the risen Christ, we can become like this broken bread that transforms reality. Just as the Eucharist reminds us that we are one body and one spirit, united to the one Lord, it is also possible for us to build together a country where old divisions are overcome once and for all, where hatred and violence disappear, and where the scourge of corruption is healed by a new culture of justice and sharing. But I also know that I can count on you, and I thank you.”
Father José Diego Jerónimo Zola, Secretary of POSI in Angola, whose connection with the Pontifical Mission Societies dates back to his seminary days, describes to Fides the realities and aspirations that animate the widespread presence of the Holy Childhood throughout the country, both in large cities and small villages. This reveals the face of a Church, an ecclesial community, that finds comfort and encouragement in supporting and accompanying children and adolescents who frequently experience poverty, school dropout, and abuse. The Society of the Holy Childhood Missionary Society (POSI) seeks to accompany children, adolescents, and their educators on their journey of faith, fostering missionary sensitivity in them, supporting them in a spirit of solidarity with their peers, and promoting national meetings to share the diverse realities of this vast country. These are some of the objectives of POSI, which are also pursued through projects aimed at child protection in collaboration with the government and other institutions, as well as through the construction of schools. “The Pope, who is visiting our country these days,” concludes the secretary of POSI Angola, “embrace and bless our children and teenagers with your apostolic journey. We want to hear your words of peace, reconciliation, and social justice; we want to be ‘uplifted’ by your words of hope.”
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