In Angola, pope warns against witchcraftLUANDA (AFP) — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday called on Angola's Catholics to work to convert believers in witchcraft, in a country where traditional and new sects are proliferating.
The pope celebrated Mass for Angola's clergy and laypeople in the modernist Sao Paulo church, which along with much of the surrounding neighbourhood has been freshly painted and upgraded for his visit.
He said that evangelising remains as important today as it was when Catholics first arrived in this region of Africa 500 years ago.
"Today it is up to you, brothers and sisters, following in the footsteps of those heroic and holy heralds of God, to offer the risen Christ to your fellow citizens," he said to the invitation-only crowd.
"So many of them are living in fear of spirits, of malign and threatening powers. In their bewilderment they end up even condemning street children and the elderly as alleged sorcerers," he said, in remarks shown on a large screen for the crowds gathered outside.
"Who can go to them to proclaim that Christ has triumphed over death and all those occult powers?" he added.
Benedict also criticised the idea that seeking to covert people was an affront to believers of other faiths.
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interesting and fascinating at the same time. but not interesting enough for me to actually crack a book right now.