{"id":48378,"date":"2026-05-08T21:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/explorecatholic.nl\/nieuws\/catholic-church-leaders-in-africa-reflect-on-pope-leo-xivs-first-year\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T21:37:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:37:00","slug":"catholic-church-leaders-in-africa-reflect-on-pope-leo-xivs-first-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/explorecatholic.nl\/en\/nieuws\/catholic-church-leaders-in-africa-reflect-on-pope-leo-xivs-first-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Church leaders in Africa reflect on Pope Leo XIV\u2019s first year"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya \u2014 Catholic Church leaders across Africa have described the first year of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV as a period marked by pastoral closeness, missionary renewal, peace advocacy, and renewed attention to the peripheries of the Church.<\/p>\n

In separate reflections shared with ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, on the first anniversary of Pope Leo XIV\u2019s election on May 8, 2025, many have pointed particularly to the pope\u2019s maiden apostolic visit to Africa<\/a> as a defining moment of his ministry.<\/p>\n

Church leaders from across the continent have also highlighted the Holy Father\u2019s emphasis on dialogue, reconciliation, missionary outreach, justice, and peace.<\/p>\n

Through the president of the\u00a0Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar<\/a> (SECAM), Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo<\/a> of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kinshasa<\/a> in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Catholic bishops in Africa said that \u201cthroughout this first year of his pontificate, his witness of faith and humility has become a source of hope for the Church and for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

They said Pope Leo\u02bcs \u201ctireless appeals for peace, reconciliation, justice, and human fraternity have touched hearts across nations and renewed confidence in the Gospel of Christ, especially among those who suffer from war, poverty, displacement, and social injustice.\u201d<\/p>\n

For SECAM, the Holy Father\u2019s recently concluded trip to Africa was \u201cnot merely a pastoral journey but also a powerful sign of communion, closeness, and encouragement.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came to Africa as a true apostle of Christ and messenger of peace, strengthening the faith of the people, comforting the afflicted, inspiring the youth, and reaffirming the dignity of every human person,\u201d the continental episcopal body said.<\/p>\n

\u2018The \u201cmargins\u201d become the center\u2019<\/h2>\n

Bishop Christian Carlassare<\/a> of South Sudan\u2019s\u00a0Catholic Diocese of Bentiu<\/a>, apostolic administrator of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek<\/a>, described the pope\u02bcs choice of Africa for his first intercontinental visit as a strong ecclesial statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing to Algeria, Cameroon, Angola, and Equatorial Guinea means declaring through actions that the Gospel does not follow the maps of power but crosses them and overturns them,\u201d Carlassare said in his reflection shared with ACI Africa.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIn a world that measures the value of peoples according to economic weight, this journey reversed the perspective: the so-called \u2018margins\u2019 become the center.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Italian-born member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus<\/a> said the people of God in Africa are \u201cnot communities \u2018to be assisted\u2019 but living subjects of mission.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHere, faith is not a cultural fact or a tradition: It is choice, resistance, and concrete hope,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Reflecting on the significance of the pope\u2019s engagement with African realities, Carlassare said the journey highlighted \u201cthat mission is increasingly a circular movement of mutual giving and receiving.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd in this movement, one realizes that it is often the \u2018small ones\u2019 who evangelize the \u2018great,\u2019\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The chairman of the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa<\/a> (AMECEA), Bishop Charles Sampa Kasonde<\/a> of Zambia\u2019s Catholic Diocese of Solwezi<\/a>, also reflected on the pope\u2019s visit to Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a pope who is bringing us together to realize the gift of love in our ministry and our mission as a Church,\u201d Kasonde said about the first pope from the United States, who belongs to the Order of St. Augustine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Referring to the April 13\u201315 apostolic journey of Leo XIV to Algeria<\/a>, the Zambian bishop said the Holy Father \u201cconnects with his root, St.\u00a0Augustine of Hippo<\/a>, who is the patron saint for their congregation as Augustinians.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe gives honor to this great son of Africa,\u201d Kasonde further said.<\/p>\n

The AMECEA chairman also reflected on the Holy Father\u2019s emphasis on Christian-Muslim relations during the Algeria visit. \u201cThis opens up also the interaction with our brothers and sisters, the Muslims, in appreciating what religion stands for,\u201d Kasonde said in his audio reflection.<\/p>\n

On the pope\u2019s visit to Cameroon, Kasonde said Pope Leo sought \u201ccreating the bond of friendship and praying for that unity that subsists in the children of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bishop Diego Ram\u00f3n Sarri\u00f3 Cucarella<\/a> of Algeria\u2019s Catholic Diocese of Laghouat-Gharda\u00efa<\/a>, Pope Leo\u02bcs presence in Algeria, the first pontiff to visit the North African nation, carried deep significance for the local Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis visit to Algeria was experienced by our small local Church, and by many beyond the Catholic community, as a moment of fraternity, peace, and spiritual encouragement,\u201d Diego said.<\/p>\n

The Spanish-born member of the Missionaries of Africa<\/a> (MAfr\/White Fathers) added: \u201cHis words on dialogue, reconciliation, the dignity of every human person, and the importance of building bridges deeply resonated with the Algerian people.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his reflection shared with ACI Africa, Diego described the Holy Father\u2019s insistence \u201cthat believers are called to be artisans of peace and fraternity in a wounded world\u201d as \u201cparticularly meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The Church must continue to be a sign of peace\u2019<\/h2>\n

In Cameroon, Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi<\/a> of the Catholic Diocese of Buea<\/a> said that many people were moved by the Holy Father\u2019s message during his four-day apostolic visit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany faithful in Cameroon were deeply moved by his encouraging words calling on Africans \u2018not to lose hope despite the trials of the present moment\u2019 and his reminder that \u2018the Church must continue to be a sign of peace, reconciliation, and hope in society,'” Bibi said, recalling the April 15\u201318 visit<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Cameroonian bishop said the pope\u2019s \u201ccloseness to young people, displaced persons, and families facing hardship left a lasting spiritual impact on many across the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Bishop Jos\u00e9 Lu\u00eds Gerardo Ponce de Le\u00f3n<\/a> of Eswatini\u2019s Catholic Diocese of Manzini<\/a> in South Africa said Pope Leo XIV\u2019s first anniversary cannot be reflected upon without recalling his first address as pope on May 8, 2025, following his election.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot but remember his very first address on this day,\u201d Ponce de Le\u00f3n said, recalling the Holy Father\u2019s \u201ccall for an unarmed and disarming peace, humble and persevering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese have not been just words. We have seen them leading him daily in the last year and a call to each one of us to be peacemakers with and like him,\u201d the Argentine member of the Institute of the Consolata Missionaries<\/a> (IMC) has said in a reflection shared with ACI Africa.<\/p>\n

For Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala<\/a> of South Sudan\u2019s Catholic Diocese of Tombura-Yambio<\/a>, Pope Leo\u02bcs first year resonated strongly in a continent \u201cburdened by conflict, poverty, corruption, and fragile social structures.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPope Leo XIV speaks directly to this reality,\u201d Hiiboro said in a reflection shared with ACI Africa, adding that the Holy Father \u201creminds us that leadership must become service and that the dignity of every human person must remain at the center of society.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reflecting on South Sudan\u2019s context, the South Sudanese bishop who chairs the Commission for the Promotion of Integral Human Development of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference<\/a> said: \u201cOur peace remains fragile, yet our faith remains strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The Church is called to … see, to recognize, to give voice\u2019<\/h2>\n

In his reflection shared with ACI Africa, Carlassare also spoke about exploitation, injustice, and the prophetic role of the Church.<\/p>\n

\u201cPope Leo convincingly returned to the theme of exploitation,\u201d he said recalling the apostolic journey to Africa of Pope Leo XIV. \u201cHe spoke of plundered natural resources, economic dependence, and dependence on humanitarian aid caused by poor governance and lack of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlassare went on to quote the late Pope Francis\u2019 January 2023 appeal<\/a> in the DRC, recalling: \u201cHands off from Africa. Stop suffocating it: It is not a natural reservoir to be exploited or a land to be plundered.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Carlassare, Pope Leo\u2019s emphasis on dialogue and encounter during his pastoral visit to Africa also stood out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMission does not pass through ideological confrontation but through daily relationships and becoming a neighbor to the other,\u201d he said. “In a global system that tends to make entire peoples invisible, the Church is called to do the opposite: to see, to recognize, to give voice.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Pope Leo XIV marks one year since his election, African Church leaders continue to envision his pontificate through the lens of missionary closeness, peace-building, and attention to those living at the peripheries.<\/p>\n

In a message addressed to Pope Leo XIV on the occasion of his first anniversary as pope, SECAM leadership said that the Holy Father\u2019s \u201cwords and gestures\u201d have \u201crenewed missionary zeal, encouraged reconciliation where wounds and divisions persist, deepened solidarity among ecclesial communities, and strengthened the Church\u2019s commitment to justice, peace, and integral human development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Church in Africa entrusts his ministry to the loving protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary,\u201d Catholic bishops in Africa said in the message signed by SECAM president Cardinal Ambongo.<\/p>\n

This story was first published<\/a> by ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, and has been adapted by EWTN News. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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