![Christ is not ‘a guru or a good luck charm,’ pope says at Mass in Angola #Catholic SAURIMO, Angola — Pope Leo XIV warned at Mass in Saurimo, Angola, on Monday of making God into an idol that is sought only when advantageous — “when genuine faith is replaced with superstitious practices.”“There are erroneous motives for seeking Christ, particularly when he is considered to be a guru or a good luck charm,” the pope said on April 20, referring to how the crowds in the Gospel reading reacted after Jesus performed the miracle of the loaves and the fishes.“They were not seeking a teacher whom they love but a leader to applaud for their own advantage,” he said.Joyful faith in Saurimo
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in Saurimo, Angola, on April 20, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
From the start of his arrival in Sub-Saharan Africa — first in Cameroon and then in Angola — Pope Leo has been welcomed by the warmth of the faithful. In Saurimo, a city in northeastern Angola, the atmosphere greeting the pope on Monday was marked by joyful faith. Everyone welcomed the successor of Peter with songs, dances, and applause.Despite the intense heat, upon reaching the esplanade before Mass, Leo XIV greeted the roughly 60,000 faithful of all ages — who had come from across the region and neighboring dioceses — by making a circuit in the popemobile.“This is the first time a pope has gone beyond Angola’s coastal belt and come — using Pope Francis’ language — to the peripheries,“ the director of the communications office of the Archdiocese of Saurimo said. ”This is a region rich in diamonds, but there is also great poverty, and he comes here to show our reality. For us, having the Holy Father in our region is a great joy.”“This is a unique and unforgettable moment in my life and in the lives of the many pilgrims here today,” Filomena Vunda, who works in the pastoral secretariat of the Archdiocese of Malanje, told ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa, at the Mass.Vunda encouraged non-Catholics in Angola to “keep in mind our African word ‘Ubuntu’: The happiness of others depends on me; my happiness depends solely on the happiness of others.”Ubuntu is an African philosophy about human interconnectedness. It can be translated as “I am because we are.”‘Disciples of Christ’In his homily at Mass, concelebrated by Angolan bishops, Pope Leo said: “In every part of the world, the Church lives as a people who walk as disciples of Christ, our brother and redeemer.”"He, the Risen One, illumines for us the path to the Father and with the strength of the Spirit he sanctifies us so that we may transform our way of life in conformity with his love," the pope said. "This is the good news, the Gospel that courses through our veins like blood, sustaining us on the journey. A journey that has brought me here with you today!”
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass in Saurimo, Angola, on April 20, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Commenting on the Gospel of the day, Leo reflected: “Indeed, when the Son of God became man, he performed striking miracles in order to manifest the will of the Father: He made light shine in the darkness by giving sight to the blind, he gave a voice to the oppressed by loosening the tongues of the mute, he slaked our thirst for justice by multiplying bread for the poor and weak. Anyone who heard about these works set out in search of Jesus. At the same time, the Lord 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.”“The Lord himself says,” the pope continued, “‘you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves’ (Jn 6:26). His words reveal the designs of those who do not want to encounter a person but want to consume things. The crowd sees Jesus as means to an end, a provider of services. If he had not given them something to eat, his actions and teachings would not have interested them.”“This happens,” Leo XIV explained, “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. 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.”“How different is Jesus’ attitude toward us,” the pontiff continued. “Yet, he does not reject this insincere search, but encourages its conversion ... 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.”“Therefore,” Leo XIV said, “the admonition that the Lord directs to the crowd is transformed into an invitation: ‘Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life’ (Jn 6:27)."“His gift sheds light on our current situation,” the pope went on. “We can see today how the hope of many people is frustrated by violence, exploited by the powerful, and defrauded by the rich. Consequently, when injustice corrupts hearts, the bread of all becomes the possession of a few."“In the face of these evils, 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.
Crowds of people brave the heat and sun to attend Mass with Pope Leo XIV in Saurimo, Angola, on April 20, 2026. | Credit: Raúl Kangombe Sapiti/ACI Africa
“All this,” the pope exhorted, “means that, in light of our discipleship, the ecclesial journey is a ‘synod of resurrection and hope,’ as St. John Paul II affirmed in his apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Africa. Let us proceed in this wise direction! Christ himself guides and strengthens our journey, a journey that we want to learn to live more and more as it should be, that is, in a synodal manner.”The pope concluded by recalling the importance of the martyrs and saints, whose witness “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.”"The vitality of the vocations that you experience [in Angola]," he said, "is a sign that you are responding to the Lord’s gift, which is always abundant for those who welcome it with pure hearts.”ACI Africa reporter Raúl Kangombe Sapiti contributed to this report.This story was first published by ACI Stampa, the Italian-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/christ-is-not-a-guru-or-a-good-luck-charm-pope-says-at-mass-in-angola-catholic-saurimo-angola-pope-leo-xiv-warned-at-mass-in-saurimo-angola-on-monday-of-making-god-int-scaled.jpg)
After praying at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption in Saurimo, Pope Leo XIV proceeded to the site of the Mass, attended by an estimated 60,000 people.
![Minnesota bishop: Singer Gracie Abrams helps young people confront ‘gaping wounds in their hearts’ #Catholic Hereʼs a roundup of the latest Catholic education news in the U.S.Minnesota bishop cites Gracie Abrams in speech on educators’ role in healing woundsBishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston shared a video performance of pop singer Gracie Abrams during his keynote speech at the National Catholic Educational Association convention.While discussing the role of educators in helping young people to heal from their wounds, Cozzens played a video of Abrams performing her song “Camden."“The poetry that she sings about expresses the depth of pain that she carries in her heart, and whatʼs even more clear is that it resonates with tens of thousands of people in the stadium all her same age,” Cozzens said during his April 7 keynote, according to UCA News. "Many people in the stadium also feel like singing.”In the song, an extended reflection on insecurity and personal struggles, Abrams sings, in part, “All of me, a wound to close / But I leave the whole thing open / I just wanted you to know / I was never good at coping.”“This is the height of popular culture,” he said. “This is what our young people are singing about, the gaping wounds in their hearts." Catholic educators must invite young people to encounter Christ in their wounds, rather than seeking value from social media, artificial intelligence, popular culture, or politics, he said.The National Catholic Educational Association convention took place April 7-9. Other highlights at the event included a live butter sculpture of Pope Leo XIV, and “Puppy Love” sessions sponsored by Safe Hands Rescue and Healing Hearts Rescue, according to the event schedule.Chicago Archdiocese says public school system abruptly cut off funding for students with disabilitiesMore than 800 students with disabilities attending Chicago Catholic schools will be affected after the city’s public school system suddenly suspended funding to social services before the end of the school year.The Chicago Archdiocese said in an April 10 statement that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) targeted only Catholic schools in terminating services for individuals with special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The statement noted students with learning differences will lose access to math, reading, and writing tutoring, which will create “severe hardship for hundreds of students” who were relying on the services through the end of the year.“We are not aware of any other non-public school system or individual school, religious or secular, whose IDEA services have been terminated,” the archdiocese said. “It is not clear why Catholic schools are being treated differently, but Catholic school students have the right to be treated equally under the law.”Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said the archdiocese "cannot allow this shocking and possibly discriminatory action by CPS to stand, not only given its affront to Catholics, but even more so since this injustice would disenfranchise the students we serve.” The archdiocese said efforts to reach CPS Superintendent Macquline King “have not yielded a response.”The archdiocese said the Chicago school system had verbally confirmed funding for the services would continue through the end of the school year “as recently as March 25" before informing the archdiocese during Holy Week that the services would be suspended. “While federal funding for these services was provided to CPS for the full school year, we were informed that the last day of services would be [April 10],” the archdiocese said.Georgia archdiocese launches virtual Catholic high schoolThe Archdiocese of Atlanta is starting a fully online Catholic high school program this fall in partnership with Catholic Education Services.The launch of Sacred Heart Virtual Academy comes amid increased demand among homeschooling families, according to an April 8 report from the Georgia Bulletin. Curriculum will be provided by Catholic Education Services, whose mission “is to partner with Catholic school leaders and provide services that extend the reach and impact of your school’s mission through a faith-centered, rigorously academic education with a flexible learning platform,” according to its website.“We knew that we were not filling the needs of a group of kids that were in our parishes,” Kim Shields, the archdiocesan associate superintendent of schools, said in the report. “This allows a child that doesn’t want to go to a brick-and-mortar school to have that opportunity.” The school will serve grades 9-12, according to its website, and is open to students outside of the archdiocese.“My hope is that it serves what we’re about — to provide programs for students to help them develop in all areas of their life,” Shields said. “The premise is that everything is centered around the mission of the Catholic Church.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/minnesota-bishop-singer-gracie-abrams-helps-young-people-confront-gaping-wounds-in-their-hearts-catholic-herecabcs-a-roundup-of-the-latest-catholic-education-news-in-the-u-s-minnesota-bishop-c.jpg "Minnesota bishop: Singer Gracie Abrams helps young people confront ‘gaping wounds in their hearts’ #Catholic Hereʼs a roundup of the latest Catholic education news in the U.S.Minnesota bishop cites Gracie Abrams in speech on educators’ role in healing woundsBishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston shared a video performance of pop singer Gracie Abrams during his keynote speech at the National Catholic Educational Association convention.While discussing the role of educators in helping young people to heal from their wounds, Cozzens played a video of Abrams performing her song “Camden.\"“The poetry that she sings about expresses the depth of pain that she carries in her heart, and whatʼs even more clear is that it resonates with tens of thousands of people in the stadium all her same age,” Cozzens said during his April 7 keynote, according to UCA News. \"Many people in the stadium also feel like singing.”In the song, an extended reflection on insecurity and personal struggles, Abrams sings, in part, “All of me, a wound to close / But I leave the whole thing open / I just wanted you to know / I was never good at coping.”“This is the height of popular culture,” he said. “This is what our young people are singing about, the gaping wounds in their hearts.\" Catholic educators must invite young people to encounter Christ in their wounds, rather than seeking value from social media, artificial intelligence, popular culture, or politics, he said.The National Catholic Educational Association convention took place April 7-9. Other highlights at the event included a live butter sculpture of Pope Leo XIV, and “Puppy Love” sessions sponsored by Safe Hands Rescue and Healing Hearts Rescue, according to the event schedule.Chicago Archdiocese says public school system abruptly cut off funding for students with disabilitiesMore than 800 students with disabilities attending Chicago Catholic schools will be affected after the city’s public school system suddenly suspended funding to social services before the end of the school year.The Chicago Archdiocese said in an April 10 statement that Chicago Public Schools (CPS) targeted only Catholic schools in terminating services for individuals with special needs under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The statement noted students with learning differences will lose access to math, reading, and writing tutoring, which will create “severe hardship for hundreds of students” who were relying on the services through the end of the year.“We are not aware of any other non-public school system or individual school, religious or secular, whose IDEA services have been terminated,” the archdiocese said. “It is not clear why Catholic schools are being treated differently, but Catholic school students have the right to be treated equally under the law.”Chicago Archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich said the archdiocese \"cannot allow this shocking and possibly discriminatory action by CPS to stand, not only given its affront to Catholics, but even more so since this injustice would disenfranchise the students we serve.” The archdiocese said efforts to reach CPS Superintendent Macquline King “have not yielded a response.”The archdiocese said the Chicago school system had verbally confirmed funding for the services would continue through the end of the school year “as recently as March 25\" before informing the archdiocese during Holy Week that the services would be suspended. “While federal funding for these services was provided to CPS for the full school year, we were informed that the last day of services would be [April 10],” the archdiocese said.Georgia archdiocese launches virtual Catholic high schoolThe Archdiocese of Atlanta is starting a fully online Catholic high school program this fall in partnership with Catholic Education Services.The launch of Sacred Heart Virtual Academy comes amid increased demand among homeschooling families, according to an April 8 report from the Georgia Bulletin. Curriculum will be provided by Catholic Education Services, whose mission “is to partner with Catholic school leaders and provide services that extend the reach and impact of your school’s mission through a faith-centered, rigorously academic education with a flexible learning platform,” according to its website.“We knew that we were not filling the needs of a group of kids that were in our parishes,” Kim Shields, the archdiocesan associate superintendent of schools, said in the report. “This allows a child that doesn’t want to go to a brick-and-mortar school to have that opportunity.” The school will serve grades 9-12, according to its website, and is open to students outside of the archdiocese.“My hope is that it serves what we’re about — to provide programs for students to help them develop in all areas of their life,” Shields said. “The premise is that everything is centered around the mission of the Catholic Church.”")
New directives by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ban Title X abortion funding while favoring fertility education and “body literacy.”
![Archbishop Broglio: War should always be ‘a last resort’ #Catholic Archbishop for the Military Services, USA Timothy Broglio said this week that the ongoing U.S.-Iran war doesnʼt seem to be legitimate under a just war theory, with the prelate admitting that while military intelligence may have additional information unknown to the public, it was nevertheless “hard” to see how the war could be justified. The archbishop, who also served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2022 to 2025, made the remarks during an interview with Ed OʼKeefe on CBS Newsʼs “Face the Nation,” set to air on April 5. OʼKeefe during the interview highlighted Saint Augustineʼs theory of “just war” in which the ancient theologian pointed out that “the causes for which men undertake wars” must be grounded in both peace and necessity. The journalist asked if the Iran war could be justified under that doctrine. “I would think under the just war theory, it is not,” the archbishop said. “Because while there was a threat with nuclear arms, [the war is] compensating for a threat before [the threat itself] is actually realized.”“I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation,” Broglio continued. “I realize also that you could say, well, with whom are you going to negotiate? And that is a problem.” “But in the meantime, lives are being lost, both there and also among troops,” he said. “So it is a concern.”On March 31 Pope Leo XIV appealed for world peace amid multiple conflicts throughout the Middle East, urging the faithful to pray “for the victims of war … that there may truly be a new, renewed peace, which can give new life to all.”Earlier, on Palm Sunday, the Holy Father spoke out more strongly against global conflict, arguing that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war."In his interview on CBS, Broglio pointed to remarks in October of 1965 by then-Pope Paul VI, who in addressing the United Nations decried the “blood of millions” resulting from numerous global conflicts, telling the international body: “Never again war, never again war!” “Now, so many years later, weʼre still in this situation,” Broglio said. “So I think Pope Leo would definitely support saying that, you know, we have to find a situation where men and women can sit down and find avenues of peace.”“I think war is always a last resort,” the archbishop said during the interview. In January, amid overtures by the U.S. to potentially invade Greenland, Broglio in an interview with the BBC expressed concern that soldiers might be “put in a situation where they’re being ordered to do something that is morally questionable.”Speaking to CBS, the prelate acknowledged that a soldier in the military “has to obey [an order] unless itʼs clearly immoral.”“And then he would probably have to speak to his chaplain, to his chain of command,” the archbishop said. “The question might be, would generals or admirals have space to perhaps say, can we look at this a different way?” “But having spoken to some of them too, theyʼre also in the same dilemma,” he said. “So I guess my counsel would be to do as little harm as you can, and to try and preserve innocent lives.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/archbishop-broglio-war-should-always-be-a-last-resort-catholic-archbishop-for-the-military-services-usa-timothy-broglio-said-this-week-that-the-ongoing-u-s-iran-war-doesncabct-seem-to-be-leg.jpg "Archbishop Broglio: War should always be ‘a last resort’ #Catholic Archbishop for the Military Services, USA Timothy Broglio said this week that the ongoing U.S.-Iran war doesnʼt seem to be legitimate under a just war theory, with the prelate admitting that while military intelligence may have additional information unknown to the public, it was nevertheless “hard” to see how the war could be justified. The archbishop, who also served as the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops from 2022 to 2025, made the remarks during an interview with Ed OʼKeefe on CBS Newsʼs “Face the Nation,” set to air on April 5. OʼKeefe during the interview highlighted Saint Augustineʼs theory of “just war” in which the ancient theologian pointed out that “the causes for which men undertake wars” must be grounded in both peace and necessity. The journalist asked if the Iran war could be justified under that doctrine. “I would think under the just war theory, it is not,” the archbishop said. “Because while there was a threat with nuclear arms, [the war is] compensating for a threat before [the threat itself] is actually realized.”“I would line myself up with Pope Leo, who has been urging for negotiation,” Broglio continued. “I realize also that you could say, well, with whom are you going to negotiate? And that is a problem.” “But in the meantime, lives are being lost, both there and also among troops,” he said. “So it is a concern.”On March 31 Pope Leo XIV appealed for world peace amid multiple conflicts throughout the Middle East, urging the faithful to pray “for the victims of war … that there may truly be a new, renewed peace, which can give new life to all.”Earlier, on Palm Sunday, the Holy Father spoke out more strongly against global conflict, arguing that God “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war.\"In his interview on CBS, Broglio pointed to remarks in October of 1965 by then-Pope Paul VI, who in addressing the United Nations decried the “blood of millions” resulting from numerous global conflicts, telling the international body: “Never again war, never again war!” “Now, so many years later, weʼre still in this situation,” Broglio said. “So I think Pope Leo would definitely support saying that, you know, we have to find a situation where men and women can sit down and find avenues of peace.”“I think war is always a last resort,” the archbishop said during the interview. In January, amid overtures by the U.S. to potentially invade Greenland, Broglio in an interview with the BBC expressed concern that soldiers might be “put in a situation where they’re being ordered to do something that is morally questionable.”Speaking to CBS, the prelate acknowledged that a soldier in the military “has to obey [an order] unless itʼs clearly immoral.”“And then he would probably have to speak to his chaplain, to his chain of command,” the archbishop said. “The question might be, would generals or admirals have space to perhaps say, can we look at this a different way?” “But having spoken to some of them too, theyʼre also in the same dilemma,” he said. “So I guess my counsel would be to do as little harm as you can, and to try and preserve innocent lives.”")
The archbishop for the Military Services, USA said it was “hard” to see how the ongoing war with Iran could be justified.
Christian leaders and Catholic clergy in the Muslim-majority South Asian nation are urging Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to add Easter Sunday to the government holiday calendar.
Police stopped the two church leaders on their way as they were proceeding privately “without any ceremonial or liturgical manifestations,” and forced them to turn back.
As Ramadan draws to a close in the camps of Cox’s Bazar, Caritas Bangladesh is sharing the meaning of Lent with more than 1 million Rohingya Muslim refugees.
Pro-life students are demonstrating against the “Repro Fund,” a program that uses mandatory student fees to finance abortions.
Church leaders and Muslim clerics shared Ramadan fast-breaking meals across six Pakistani dioceses this year as the overlap of Lent and Ramadan inspired joint prayers for peace.
Three members of NASA’s Lewis Research Center’s (now NASA’s Glenn Research Center) Educational Services Office pose with one of the center’s Spacemobile space science demonstration units on Nov. 1, 1964.
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