{"id":595372,"date":"2026-08-25T09:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/595372\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T09:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T09:42:16","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-remembers-victims-of-ebola-and-mining-disaster-in-central-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/595372\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV remembers victims of Ebola and mining disaster in Central Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

During his Angelus on Aug. 23, the pontiff expressed closeness to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic.<\/p>\n

During his Aug. 23 Angelus address<\/a> at the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV remembered the victims of an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and of a deadly mining landslide in the Central African Republic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my prayers, I often remember the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially in light of the spread of the Ebola epidemic, which is sadly claiming many lives. I encourage on the part of the international community a response that also involves local communities in efforts of prevention, so that many human lives may be saved,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n

The recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo was first declared in May, claiming the lives of close to 2,500 people, according to an Aug. 21 BBC report<\/a>. The country is currently distributing a vaccine against the virus, and public health officials have declared it the deadliest outbreak in the country\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 18, a landslide at a gold mine near Zamboy\u00e9 in western Central African Republic buried and killed more than 100 workers, according to an Aug. 19 BBC report<\/a>. Rescue efforts are ongoing for potential survivors, and Pope Leo prayed for all those who lost their lives in the disaster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also close to the people of the Central African Republic, who are mourning the victims of the collapse at a mine in Zamboy\u00e9. May the Lord receive those who have lost their lives and sustain efforts to ensure safety and respect for the law at mining sites,\u201d the pope said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Who is Jesus for me?\u2019<\/p>\n

During his Angelus, Leo also preached on the Gospel of the day, in which Jesus asks his disciples about his identity and Peter\u2019s confesses his faith in Jesus as the Son of God.<\/p>\n

The pope noted that the question of Jesus\u2019 identity is decisive for one\u2019s everyday experience of discipleship.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question that is put to us each day \u2014 Who is Jesus for me, and what does his presence mean in my life? \u2014 emerges especially in prayer and when we meditate on the Gospel,\u201d Leo explained.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The faithful gathered in St. Peter\u2019s Square for Pope Leo XIV\u2019s Angelus address on Aug. 23, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our daily lives, in short, we can discover whether the Lord Jesus is for us merely a great figure of history \u2026 or the Christ of God, the One sent to bring us into the love of the Father and to transform our lives and the world in which we live,\u201d the pope added.<\/p>\n

The pope then encouraged the faithful not to be content with their own convictions about Christ but to \u201cremain open to an authentic relationship with Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYet Jesus calls us to give a personal response, to know him more closely and to allow ourselves to be shaped by friendship with him through an ever new encounter. This may also ask us to follow unfamiliar paths and to make choices different from those we had imagined.\u201d<\/p>\n

Angelus Message | August 23, 2026<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on EWTN News English.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During his Angelus on Aug. 23, the pontiff expressed closeness to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":595373,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1911,221637,159785,1912,163,85,46,62564,14655],"class_list":["post-595372","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-africa","tag-central-africa","tag-central-african-republic","tag-democratic-republic-of-congo","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-landslide","tag-pope-leo-xiv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595372","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=595372"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/595372\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/595373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=595372"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=595372"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=595372"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}