Pope Benedict held Mass for a crowd estimated at up to one million people in Angola on Sunday, on the last full day of his tour of Africa.
At the start of the service the pope prayed for two women killed in a stadium stampede at one of his events.
The women, in their early 20s, were killed in a stampede to enter the stadium in central Luanda several hours before the pope presided at a youth rally on Saturday. The Vatican said it had been told that up to 40 people were injured.
Pope Benedict went on to urge Africa to end wars, corruption, tribal strife and made a particular appeal for an end to the conflict in Congo.
He said the continent had too often seen "the destructive power of civil strife, the descent into a maelstrom of hatred and revenge, the squandering of the efforts of generations of good people."
"Tragically, the clouds of evil have also overshadowed Africa, including this beloved nation of Angola," he said of the country which ended its own 27-year civil war in 2002.
Africa is currently scarred by several conflicts, including those in Congo, Darfur and Somalia.
The service near the Angolan capital Luanda was the last major event of the Pope's seven-day Africa tour.
