Pope prays for healing at Angola shrine marked by slave trade history

By Dominic Wabwireh with AP

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday delivered a message of peace and reconciliation at the Sanctuary of Mama Muxima in Angola, a revered Catholic site that once served as a hub of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Set along the Kwanza River, the sanctuary became a pilgrimage destination after reported Marian apparitions in the 19th century.

Yet the Church of Our Lady of Muxima was originally built by Portuguese colonizers in the late 16th century as part of a fortress linked to slavery.

Enslaved Africans were gathered there, baptized by priests, and forced to march more than 100 kilometers to Luanda before being shipped to the Americas.

Message of love over war

“It is love that must triumph, not war,” Leo said in a prayer invoking the Virgin Mary, urging believers to act as “messenger angels” spreading compassion and blessing.

Praying the Rosary inside the modest church, he recalled centuries of “sorrow and great suffering” endured by Angolans, without directly referencing slavery.

Debate over church’s legacy

The site reflects the Catholic Church’s historical entanglement with slavery, including forced baptisms and colonial doctrines that justified enslavement.

Papal decrees such as Dum Diversas and Romanus Pontifex underpinned the so-called Doctrine of Discovery, later repudiated by the Vatican in 2023.

Scholars say the visit holds symbolic weight, particularly for Black Catholics whose faith is closely tied to this history.

Calls for justice and unity

Addressing tens of thousands, Leo urged Angolans to build a society free of war, injustice and corruption.

Earlier, speaking near the capital, he condemned exploitation and called for reconciliation after years of conflict, while welcoming a ceasefire in Lebanon as a hopeful step toward lasting peace.