Pope John Paul II concluded a weeklong visit to Africa Wednesday with a final appeal to rich nations to support the poverty-ridden continent.
In his farewell speech at Luanda's airport, the 72-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church invoked God's blessing on "all the sons and daughters of Africa.""May this permit them to overcome with wisdom the tribulations to which the continent is subjected and to receive the solid support on the part of more developed nations which, at the same time, must respect the initiative, independence and identity of every nation," John Paul said.
In his visit to six Angolan cities, the pope urged Angolans to seek peace and reconcilation after 16 years of civil war that ended a year ago.
Apart from preaching national reconcilation, the main purpose of the pope's June 4-10 visit was to bolster the Catholic Church, which suffered severe persecution under the former Marxist regime.