Official Visits Angola

As a symbol of Cold War futility, the huge concrete finger that rises high above the waterfront here is unsurpassed. Soviet-designed, it was supposed to be a soaring monument to Marxist revolution, the center of a kind of Red Square in the heart of Africa. The monument was abandoned unfinished. Wrapped in grimy scaffolding, it is now a giant sore thumb dominating the skyline and the consciousness of a nation that endured nearly a generation of war and misery as a Great Power pawn.

Pope John Paul II delivered an unpopular message to a dangerous place Monday, telling independence-minded worshipers in this guerrilla-plagued enclave of Angola to share their oil wealth with the rest of a poor country. Security for a papal airport Mass was extraordinary, with young, black-uniformed Angolan police reinforced by a dozen plainclothes instructors from Spain's Guardia Civil.

Visiting Pope John Paul II brought a message of patience and brotherhood Friday to a war-torn nation where the cruel irony of a tenuous peace has been lawlessness. Angola is enduring a savage crime wave as epitaph to a 17-year civil war that claimed more than 300,000 lives. Aid workers and diplomats say that 15 white residents have been murdered around Luanda in recent weeks and that banditry by former soldiers is increasingly widespread in the countryside.

As a symbol of Cold War futility, the huge concrete finger that rises high above the waterfront here is unsurpassed. Soviet-designed, it was supposed to be a soaring monument to Marxist revolution, the center of a kind of Red Square in the heart of Africa. The monument was abandoned unfinished. Wrapped in grimy scaffolding, it is now a giant sore thumb dominating the skyline and the consciousness of a nation that endured nearly a generation of war and misery as a Great Power pawn.

Pope John Paul II delivered an unpopular message to a dangerous place Monday, telling independence-minded worshipers in this guerrilla-plagued enclave of Angola to share their oil wealth with the rest of a poor country. Security for a papal airport Mass was extraordinary, with young, black-uniformed Angolan police reinforced by a dozen plainclothes instructors from Spain's Guardia Civil.

Brushing aside concerns for his safety, a relaxed Pope John Paul II ventured anew into Africa on Thursday with a message of peace and reconciliation for a nation uncertainly emerging from a ruinous civil war. "Angola, I come with the spirit of friendship, of respect and of trust. You can realize your destiny as a free and fraternal country," the Pope told officials and a small, cheering crowd at Luanda Airport.

Visiting Pope John Paul II brought a message of patience and brotherhood Friday to a war-torn nation where the cruel irony of a tenuous peace has been lawlessness. Angola is enduring a savage crime wave as epitaph to a 17-year civil war that claimed more than 300,000 lives. Aid workers and diplomats say that 15 white residents have been murdered around Luanda in recent weeks and that banditry by former soldiers is increasingly widespread in the countryside.

Brushing aside concerns for his safety, a relaxed Pope John Paul II ventured anew into Africa on Thursday with a message of peace and reconciliation for a nation uncertainly emerging from a ruinous civil war. "Angola, I come with the spirit of friendship, of respect and of trust. You can realize your destiny as a free and fraternal country," the Pope told officials and a small, cheering crowd at Luanda Airport.