Pontiff criticizes inequality, conflict drivers, and misuse of technology.
During his first meeting with residents of Equatorial Guinea on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV warned that the fate of humanity risks being tragically compromised if an urgent change of course is not adopted in the assumption of political responsibility and in respect for international institutions and agreements.
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The pontiff urged African leaders to “value those who believe in peace and to dare to implement policies centered on the common good even if they go against the mainstream.”
“Exclusion is the new face of social injustice,” the pope said, comparing the current era, marked by “issues that shake the foundations of human experience,” with the time when Pope Leo XIII promulgated the encyclical Rerum novarum.
“Truth is not manufactured, manipulated or possessed like a trophy, but rather sought with humility,” Leo XIV said during a speech delivered in Spanish at the National University of Equatorial Guinea.
Recalling that Pope Francis died a year ago, Leo XIV cited reflections by the Argentine pope, who stressed the need to “say no to an economy of exclusion, to an economy that kills.”
“One of the main reasons for the proliferation of armed conflicts is the colonization of oil and mining deposits,” Leo XIV said, emphasizing that this practice is carried out without considering the right of peoples to self-determination.
Leo XIV also criticized that new technologies “seem to be conceived and used primarily for war purposes” and was emphatic in declaring that the name of God “must never be invoked to justify decisions and actions that cause death,” as His Holy Name “cannot be profaned by the will to dominate, arrogance, and discrimination.”
Referring to Equatorial Guinea, the pope asked authorities to review growth trajectories and implement an education pact that provides young people with space and confidence for their integral development.
On April 21, Leo XIV arrived in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, marking the final stage of his tour of the African continent. He was received with honors by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.
[ SOURCE: teleSUR ]
