Homily of Pope Leo XIV during the Holy Mass in Kilamba (Angola)

On Sunday, 19 April 2026, on the esplanade in Kilamba (Angola), the Holy Father Pope Leo XIV celebrated Holy Mass. During the homily, referring to the Gospel passage of Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35), the Holy Father particularly emphasized the central importance of the Eucharist in Christian life and the need for an authentic inculturation of the faith.

Below is an excerpt from the Holy Father’s homily.

«[…] Dear friends, the Good News of the Lord, even for us today, is precisely this: he is alive, he has risen, and he walks beside us as we journey along the path of suffering and bitterness, opening our eyes so that we may recognize his work and granting us the grace to start afresh and rebuild the future.

The Lord walks alongside the two disappointed disciples, who are running out of hope. As their travelling companion, he helps them to piece together the fragments of that story, to look beyond their pain, to discover that they are not alone on the journey and that a future, still inhabited by the God of love, awaits them. When he stops to dine with them, sits at the table and breaks the bread, then “their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24:31).

Here, too, is the path laid out for us, for you, dear Angolan brothers and sisters, to begin anew. On the one hand, there is the certainty that the Lord accompanies us and has compassion on us, and on the other, the commitment that he asks from us.

We experience the Lord’s companionship above all in our relationship with him, in prayer, in listening to his word that sets our hearts ablaze like it did to the hearts of the two disciples. This takes place especially in the celebration of the Eucharist. It is here that we encounter God. For this reason, we must always be vigilant regarding those forms of traditional religiosity that certainly belong to the roots of your culture, but at the same time risk confusing and mixing magical and superstitious elements that do not aid your spiritual journey. Remain faithful to what the Church teaches, trust your pastors, and keep your gaze fixed on Jesus, who reveals himself in the word and in the Eucharist. In both we experience that the risen Lord walks beside us and, united to him, we too overcome the “deaths” that besiege us and live as those who have “risen.” [...]»

https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/homilies/2026/documents/20260419-angola-messa-kilamba.html