Dear brothers and sisters,

I would like to begin by warmly greeting the local Church of Malabo, along with its pastor. At the same time, I send heartfelt condolences to the entire Archdiocesan community, the brother priests and the family members of your recently deceased Vicar General, Father Fortunato Nsue Esono, whom we remember in this Eucharistic celebration.

I invite you to live this moment of sadness with a spirit of faith, and I trust that, without being swayed by speculation or rash conclusions, the circumstances surrounding his death will be fully clarified.

The readings we have just heard challenge us to ask whether we truly know how to interpret the passages of Scripture that were read today. This question is both serious and providential, because it prepares us to read together the book of history, that is, the pages of our own lives, which God continues to inspire with his wisdom.

When the deacon Philip approached a traveller who was returning from Jerusalem to Africa, he asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” (Acts 8:30). The pilgrim, a eunuch of the Queen of Ethiopia, replied immediately with humble wisdom: “How can I, unless someone guides me?” (v. 31). His question is not only a search for truth, but also an expression of openness and desire. Let us reflect on this man: he is wealthy, like his land, yet he is a slave. The wealth he administers is not his own: all he has is his labour, which benefits others. He is intelligent and cultured, as shown in both his work and prayer, but he is not fully free. This painful reality is marked even on his body: he is, in fact, a eunuch. He cannot bring forth life; all his vitality is placed at the service of a power that controls and rules over him.

Yet, as he returns to his homeland of Africa, which for him has become a place of servitude, the proclamation of the Gospel sets him free. The Word of God that he holds in his hands bears unexpected fruit in his life. Through his encounter with Philip, a witness of the crucified and risen Christ, the eunuch is transformed from a mere reader — a spectator — of Scripture into a protagonist in the very story that captivates him, because it now concerns him personally. The sacred text speaks to him, stirring within him a longing for truth. This African man thus enters into Scripture, which welcomes every reader who seeks to understand God’s word. He steps into salvation history, which embraces every man and woman, especially the oppressed, the marginalised and the least among us. The written word then becomes a lived reality: through Baptism, he is no longer a stranger, but becomes a child of God, our brother in faith. Though a slave and childless, he is reborn into a new and free life in the name of the Lord Jesus. And we speak of his salvation to this day, precisely as we read these Scriptures!

Like him, we too have become Christians through Baptism, receiving the same light, that is, the same faith through which we read the Word of God: to reflect on the prophecies, to pray the psalms, to study the Law and to proclaim the Gospel through our lives. All the texts of Scripture, in fact, reveal their true meaning in faith, because they were written and handed down to us through faith. Reading them, therefore, is always both a personal and an ecclesial act; it is never something done in isolation or in a merely mechanical way.

Together we read Scripture as the shared heritage of the Church, guided by the Holy Spirit, who inspired its composition, and by Apostolic Tradition, which has preserved and transmitted it throughout the world. Like the eunuch, we too can come to understand the Word of God with the help of a guide who accompanies us on our journey of faith. Such was the case with the deacon Philip, who “began to speak, and starting with this scripture, proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus” (v. 35). The African pilgrim was reading a prophecy that was fulfilled for him, just as it is fulfilled for us today. The suffering servant spoken of by the prophet Isaiah (cf. Is 53:7–8) is Jesus, whose passion, death and resurrection, redeem us from sin and death. He is the Word made flesh, in whom every word of God finds fulfillment; he reveals its original intention, full meaning and ultimate purpose.

As Christ himself said, “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God” (Jn 6:46). In the Son, the Father himself reveals his glory: God makes himself seen, heard and touched. Through the actions of Jesus, the Redeemer, he brings to fulfilment what he has always done: giving life. He creates the world, saves it and loves it forever. Jesus reminded those who listened to him of a sign of this constant care: “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness” (v. 49). He is referring to the experience of the Exodus: a journey of liberation from slavery that nonetheless turned into a grueling forty-year period of wandering. This delay occurred because the people did not believe in the Lord’s promise; they even longed for their life back in Egypt (cf. Ex 16:3). Indeed, under the Pharaoh’s rule, they had food from the land; God, however, led them into the desert, where bread could come only from his providence. Manna, then, is a sign, a blessing and a promise that Jesus comes to fulfill. This ancient symbol now gives way to the sacrament of the new and eternal Covenant: the Eucharist — bread consecrated by the one who came down from heaven to become our nourishment. If those who ate the manna died (cf. Jn 6:49), whoever eats this bread will live forever (cf. v. 51), because Christ is alive! He is the risen One, and he continues to give his life for us.

Through Jesus’ Passover, the definitive exodus, every people is set free from the slavery of evil. As we celebrate this saving mystery, the Lord calls us to make a decisive choice: “Whoever believes has eternal life” (v. 47). In Jesus, we are given an astonishing prospect: God gives himself for us. Do I trust that his love is stronger than my death? By deciding to believe in him, each of us chooses between inevitable despair and the hope that God offers. Our hunger for life and justice is then satisfied by Jesus’ words: “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (v. 51).

Thank you, Lord! We praise you and bless you, because you chose to become for us the Eucharist, the bread of eternal life, so that we might live forever. Dear friends, at this very moment, as we celebrate this sacrament of salvation, we can joyfully proclaim: Christ is everything for us! In him we find the fullness of life and meaning. “If you are oppressed by injustice, he is justice; if you are in need of help, he is strength; if you fear death, he is life; if you desire Heaven, he is the way; if you are in darkness, he is light” (Saint Ambrose, De Virginitate, 16:99). Our problems do not disappear in the Lord’s presence, but they are illuminated. Just as every cross finds redemption in Jesus, so too the story of our lives finds its meaning in the Gospel. Therefore, today each of us can say: “Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me” (Ps 66:20). He always loves us first. His word is the Good News for us, and we have nothing greater to proclaim to the world. All of us are called to this evangelization from the moment of our Baptism, the sacrament of fraternal unity, the cleansing water of forgiveness and the source of hope. Through our witness, the proclamation of salvation is made visible in action, service and forgiveness — in a word, it becomes the Church!

As Pope Francis taught, “the joy of the Gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus” (Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, 1). At the same time, when we share this joy, we also become more aware of the danger of “the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience. Whenever our interior life becomes caught up in its own interests and concerns, there is no longer room for others, no place for the poor. God’s voice is no longer heard, the quiet joy of his love is no longer felt” (ibid., 2). In the face of such closed attitudes, it is precisely the Lord’s love that sustains our efforts, especially in the service of justice and solidarity.

For this reason, I encourage all of you, as the living Church in Equatorial Guinea, to carry on the mission of Jesus’ first disciples with joy. As you read the Gospel together, proclaim it with passion, just as the deacon Philip did. And as you celebrate the Eucharist together, bear witness through your lives to the faith that saves, so that God’s word may become good leaven for all.

Dear brothers and sisters,

The time has come for me to depart from Equatorial Guinea and also from Africa at the conclusion of the Apostolic Journey that God has permitted me to make over these past ten days.

I am grateful to the Archbishop, the other Bishops, Monsignor Juan, the clergy and all of you — the people of God journeying in this land. Christ is the light of Equatorial Guinea, and you are salt of the earth and light of the world.

My gratitude also goes to the Civil Authorities of the country and to all who have contributed in various ways to the success of my visit.

I leave Africa with an immeasurable treasure of faith, hope and charity: a great treasure consisting of stories, faces and testimonies, both joyful and sorrowful, which will greatly enrich my life and ministry as the Successor of Peter.

As in the early centuries of the Church, Africa today is called to make a decisive contribution to the holiness and the missionary character of the Christian people. May this be obtained through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, to whom I entrust you all, your families, your communities, your nation and all the people of Africa.

23.04.26

Pope Leo Holy Mass,  Malabo 23.04.26

Apostolic Journey to  Equatorial Guinea 

FAMINE

Pope Francis

Hunger

Hunger is an injustice that destroys men and women because they have nothing to eat, even if there is a lot food available in the world. Human exploitation; different forms of slavery; recently I saw a film shot inside a prison where migrants are locked up and tortured to turn them into slaves. This is still happening 70 years after the Declaration of Human Rights. Cultural colonization. This is exactly what the Devil wants, to destroy human dignity – and that is why the Devil is behind all forms of persecution.

01.06.18

Pope Leo Holy Mass,  Mongomo 22.04.26

Apostolic Journey to  Equatorial Guinea 

Dear brothers and sisters,

We are gathered in this magnificent Cathedral Basilica, dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, Mother of the Incarnate Word and Patroness of Equatorial Guinea, to listen to the Lord’s word and to celebrate the memorial that he has left us as the source and summit of the Church’s life and mission. The Eucharist truly contains every spiritual good of the Church: it is Christ, our Passover, who gives himself to us, he is the living Bread that nourishes us. His presence in the Eucharist reveals God’s infinite love for the entire human family and the way he encounters every woman and every man even today.

I am pleased to be able to celebrate with you and give thanks to the Lord for these 170 years of evangelization in Equatorial Guinea. It is a fitting occasion to recall all the good that the Lord has done, and at the same time, I wish to express my gratitude to the many missionaries, diocesan priests, catechists and lay faithful who have devoted their lives in service to the Gospel.

They have taken up the aspirations, questions and wounds of your people, and illuminated them with the Lord’s word, becoming themselves a sign of God’s love among you. Through the example of their lives, they have played their part in bringing about the Kingdom of God, unafraid of suffering for their fidelity to Christ.

It is a history that you must never forget. On the one hand, it links you to the universal and apostolic Church that came before you. On the other, it has made you protagonists in proclaiming the Gospel and bearing witness to the faith, fulfilling the prophetic words spoken by Pope Saint Paul VI on African soil: “Africans, from now on, you are missionaries to yourselves. The Church of Christ is well and truly planted in this blessed soil” (Homily at the Conclusion of the Symposium Organized by the Bishops of Africa, Kampala, Uganda 31 July 1969).

With this in mind, you are called upon today to follow in the footsteps of the missionaries, pastors and laypeople who have gone before you. Each and every one of you is invited to make a personal commitment that encompasses your entire life, so that the faith — celebrated so joyfully in your communities and in your liturgies — may also nourish your charitable works and the sense of responsibility toward your neighbour, for building up the common good.

Such a commitment requires perseverance; it demands effort and, at times, sacrifice. Yet it is the sign that we are truly the Church of Christ. In fact, the first reading we heard narrates in just a few verses how a Church that fearlessly and joyfully proclaims the Gospel is also a Church that, precisely for this reason, may be persecuted (cf. Acts 8:1–8). Nevertheless, the Acts of the Apostles tells us that, while Christians were forced to flee and were scattered, many drew near to the word of the Lord and could see with their own eyes how those who were sick in body and spirit were healed: these were the miraculous signs of God’s presence, which brought great joy to the whole city (cf. vv. 6–8).

Brothers and sisters, even when faced with personal, family and social situations that are not always favourable, we can trust that the Lord is at work, making the good seed of his Kingdom grow in ways unknown to us, including when everything around us seems barren, and even in moments of darkness. With such confidence, rooted in the power of his love rather than in our own merits, we are called to remain faithful to the Gospel, to proclaim it, to live it fully and to bear witness to it with joy. God will not fail to provide signs of his presence, and just as Jesus told us in the Gospel we heard, he once again will be for us “the bread of life” that satisfies our hunger (cf. Jn 6:35).

What is the hunger we feel? And what does this nation hunger for today? The motto chosen for my visit is “Christ, Light of Equatorial Guinea, Towards a Future of Hope.” Perhaps this is precisely the greatest hunger today. There is hunger for a future imbued with hope that is capable of engendering a new sense of justice and producing fruits of peace and fraternity. This is not an unknown future that we must passively await, but rather one that we ourselves are called to build with God’s grace. The future of Equatorial Guinea depends upon your choices; it is entrusted to your sense of responsibility and to your shared commitment to safeguarding the life and dignity of every person.

It is therefore necessary for all the baptized to feel that they are part of the work of evangelization, and so become apostles of charity and witnesses to a new humanity.

It is a matter of taking part, with the light and strength of the Gospel, in the integral development of this land, in its renewal and in its transformation. The Creator has endowed you with great natural wealth: I urge you to work together so that it may be a blessing for all. May the Lord help you to become a society in which everyone, each according to their respective responsibilities, works ever more fully to serve the common good rather than private interests, bridging the gap between the privileged and the disadvantaged. May there be greater room for freedom, and may the dignity of the human person always be safeguarded. My thoughts go to the poorest, to families experiencing difficulty and to prisoners who are often forced to live in troubling hygienic and sanitary conditions.

Brothers and sisters, there is a need for Christians to take the destiny of Equatorial Guinea into their own hands. For this reason, I would like to encourage you: do not be afraid to proclaim the Gospel and bear witness to it with your lives! Be builders of a future of hope, peace and reconciliation, carrying on the work begun by the missionaries 170 years ago.

May the Immaculate Virgin Mary be with you on this journey. May she intercede for you and help you to become generous and joyful disciples of Christ.

And we also wish to leave the chalice we used to celebrate the Eucharist at this altar as a gift to this community, to this church.  May we always be united in communion with Christ.

22.04.26

Pope Leo Holy Mass,  Saurimo  20.04.26

Apostolic Journey to  Angola 

How do we receive the Word of God? The response is clear: As one receives Jesus Christ. The Church tells us that Jesus is present in the Scripture, in His Word.

Always carry a small Gospel with you in your purse, in your pocket, and read a passage from the Gospel during the day. Not so much to learn something, but mostly to find Jesus, because Jesus actually is in His Word, in His Gospel.  Every time I read the Gospel, I find Jesus.  - Pope Francis 01.09.14

Daily Readings - read the entire New Testament over a 2 year period (reading plan courtesy of Gideon International)

The Bible Online

Thank you, Francis

Every month, you have invited us to pray with you for the challenges of humanity and the mission of the Church, teaching us to learn compassion for others from the heart of Christ. Thank you, Francis, for your life and your witness.

Your Worldwide Prayer Network.

Pope Francis Easter Message and Urbi et Orbi Blessing   20.04.25

Easter Sunday

for the full transcript click on the picture link above

Pope Francis

Care for Our Common Home - Laudato Si'

Pope Francis 

Refugees and Migrants

Pope Francis

 Marriage

Pope Francis - The ‘foreverness’ and beauty of Love 

Pope Francis - The Family in the Light of the Word of God

Pope Francis 

Fraternity

Pope Francis

Compassion

Pope Francis

Happiness

Pope Leo Holy Mass,  Mongomo 22.04.26

Apostolic Journey to  Equatorial Guinea

Pope Francis Message for the 58th World Day of Peace 01.01.25