Pope Leo's Angola Visit: Slavery, Justice & Hope

0:00On April 19th, Pope Leo XIV kicked off his Angola trip calling on folks to battle corruption with real justice. He led mass for about 100,000 people outside Luanda, slamming the exploitation of the country's rich minerals and its people scarred by A. Nasty Civil War after independence. He also gave props to the new ceasefire in Lebanon between Israel and Hezbollah, calling it a sign of hope for lasting Middle East peace. Later, he headed to the church of our Lady of Maksima. A 16th-century spot built by Portuguese colonizers that turned into a major slave trade, hub, enslaved Africans got baptized there before marching to the Wanda's port for shifts to the Americas. Now Angola's top Catholic shrine, it highlights the church's dark role in slavery, forced baptisms and unhealed wounds. This hits close for Pope Leo, the first US-born pope whose Creole roots trace to both slave owners and 17 black ancestors, per genealogy, digs. Black Catholic scholars see his visit as a healing moment tied to slavery's forced conversions

1:04under codes like the Code Noir. Scholars point to 15th-century papal bulls that green-lit Portugal's enslavement of non-Christians, fueling the doctrine of discovery, Vatican. Ditch that last year, but not the bulls themselves. They hope Leo apologizes for the Pope's role, echoing his namesake, Leo XIII, who finally condemns slavery late in the game, pushing toward. Real reckoning. Stay in form with Global News, AI-powered updates. I'm Corey with The Story.