In Saurimo, the city of diamonds, Pope Leo said, ‘We were not born to become slaves’
On his third day in Angola, Leo XIV spoke in the diamond-rich city where people’s “hope” is "exploited by the overbearing and defrauded by the rich.” The pontiff slammed the injustice that makes bread "the possession of a few." Violence and exploitation deny "the resurrection,” while the faithful are urged to embrace "the meaning" of Christ's words, and reject “superstitious practices”.
Saurimo (AsiaNews) – "Christ lives!" In Saurimo, the heart of Angola's diamond industry, a show case for China’s investments in Africa, Leo XIV spoke of God's gift which sheds light on "our current situation”, teaching us to “search for the bread of life, food which sustains us forever.”
Such consolation comes in a world where people's desires are "frustrated by violence, exploited by the overbearing and defrauded by the rich.”
“Christ hears the cry of the people and renews our history by lifting us up from every fall, comforting us in every suffering and encouraging us in our mission,” he said.
On the third and last day of his stay in Angola, before moving on to Equatorial Guinea for the final leg of his apostolic journey to Africa, the pontiff was welcomed again today by a large crowd (about 40,000 people) at a designated location in the city, capital of the province of Lunda Sul, 800 km east of the capital Luanda.
Its population has grown rapidly due to migrants and refugees who fled the Angolan civil war.
Saurimo is a strategic hub for diamond mining with the mines of Catoca and Luele among the largest in the world.
China is Angola’s main economic partner, and its investments are centred on infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, and agriculture (soybean and grain).
In such an environment, “injustice" can corrupt hearts, the pope warned, since there is not enough bread for everyone because it “becomes the possession of a few.”
Yet, there is a “living bread” that never ceases to be given, the Eucharist, “living bread that he never ceases to give us, so too his history knows no end.”
“We did not come into the world to die”, nor were we “born to become slaves either to the corruption of the flesh or that of the soul: every form of oppression, violence, exploitation and dishonesty negates the resurrection of Christ, the supreme gift of our freedom,” Leo explained.
In today's Gospel (John 6:22-29), Jesus speaks to the crowd that is looking for him on the boats as far as Capernaum: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life,” the Gospel says.
“Christ calls us to freedom: he does not want servants or clients, rather he seeks brothers and sisters to whom he can totally dedicate himself.” The faithful “respond” to his love, not only by hearing him speak, but by welcoming “the meaning of his words” so as to follow and imitate him.
Just as Jesus does with the crowd that seeks him, He also “looks into our heart and asks us whether we seek him out of gratitude or for our own self-interest, with calculation or with love”, or because we seek “to consume things”.
“The crowd sees Jesus as means to an end, a provider of services”, like the loaves and fishes that abundantly fed the multitudes.
“This happens when genuine faith is replaced with superstitious practices, in which God becomes an idol that is sought only when it is advantageous to us and only for as long as it is,” the pontiff said.
“Even the most beautiful gifts of the Lord, which are always for the care of his people, become a pretext, a prize or a bargaining chip, and are misinterpreted by those who receive them.”
The Gospel, the "road" that today led the pope into the midst of a sea of humanity, teaches that “there are erroneous motives for seeking Christ, particularly when he is considered to be a guru or a good luck charm.”
“Even the motivation of the crowd is inadequate: they were not seeking a teacher whom they love, but a leader to applaud for their own advantage.”
“How different is Jesus’ attitude toward us. Yet, he does not reject this insincere search, but encourages its conversion,” Leo XIV explained.
“[T]he witness of the martyrs and of the saints encourages us and pushes us onto a path of hope, reconciliation and peace, along which the gift of God becomes the responsibility of the head of the household, in the Christian community, in civil society. “
“Travelling together, in the light of the Gospel, the Church in Angola grows according to the spiritual fruitfulness that begins from the Eucharist and continues in the integral care of each person and of the entire people.”
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25/02/2026 18:14
