Pope Leo XIV

The church's mission is to preach the gospel, to preach peace.

If anyone wishes to criticize me for proclaiming the gospel, let them do so with truth.

The church has for years spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there's no doubt about that.

And so I simply hope to be heard for the sake of the word of God.

Pope Leo has sought to return the focus of his 11-day tour in Africa away from growing tensions with President Trump.

In Angola, his third stop on the tour, he said some of his statements against war had been interpreted as a direct response to attacks against him by President Trump last week.

Nearly half of Angola's almost 40 million people are Catholic.

And on Sunday, Leo visited a sanctuary where enslaved Africans were forcibly baptized before being taken to the Americas.

He made a speech acknowledging the, quote, sorrow and great suffering, but stopped short of directly referencing slavery or the church's role in it.

Emmanuel Akimotu, NPR News, Lagos.

Jesus told us, blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic, or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.

Yes, my dear sisters and brothers, you who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor, merciful, meek, and pure of heart, you who have wept, you are the light of the world.

The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants.

It is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.

They are the descendants of Abraham, as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore.

Let us look into each other's eyes.

We are this immense people.

Peace is not something we must invent.

It is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbor as our brother and as our sister.

The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy.