Pope Benedict XVI on Monday flew back to the Italian capital, Rome, after his first official trip to Africa.During the seven-day visit to Angola and Cameroon, his open-air masses drew huge crowds.
"I thank God that I have found the Church here to be so alive and full of enthusiasm, despite the difficulties, able to take up its own cross and that of others, bearing witness before everyone to the saving power of the Gospel message", he said.
He was speaking at Luanda's Fevereiro airport where Angola's president Jose Eduardo dos Santos and top civil, military and religious officials who were at the airport to say goodbye to him.
The Pope also praised the "courageous" Angolans, urging them to work for peace and national reconciliation "so that violence may never prevail over dialogue."
"Despite the problems and obstacles, the people of Angola intend to build their future by travelling along paths of forgiveness, justice and solidarity," he said.
"The just realisation of the fundamental aspirations of the most needy peoples should be the principal concern of those in public office," he stressed.
Earlier on his trip, the Pope launched a powerful attack on corruption, which analysts say is rife in oil-rich Angola.
Still one of the world's poorest countries, Angola was ravaged by a bitter 27-year civil war after independence from Portugal in 1975.
The "destructive power of civil strife" had dominated for too long, the Pope told hundreds of thousands of Angolan Christians who gathered for his open-air mass near Luanda on Sunday.
Speaking to local Catholic women activist groups on Sunday, the pontiff also stated the need to "recognise, affirm and defend the equal dignity of man and woman."
Women had a "full right to become actively involved in all areas of public life", a right that should be legally enforced, he said.
Societies must compel men to support women and recognise the vital role they play within families, he added.
According to figures released by the Vatican, the number of Catholics in Africa has been rising steadily in recent years.
Catholics made up 17 percent of the African population in 2006, compared with 12 percent in 1978.
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(Source: AN)