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Pope prays for Madagascar as protests bring deaths

2 min read
Madagascar-protests.jpg

Credit: RIJASOLO | AFP

Security forces line up as they approach protesters during a demonstration against repeated water and electricity outages in Antananarivo on September 30, 2025.

The impoverished country was affected by changes to US international aid and is plagued by political corruption.

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At the end of the general audience on October 1, 2025, Leo XIV expressed sorrow at the news coming from Madagascar, concerning violent clashes between police and young protesters, which have left several people dead and injured in recent days.

"We must always avoid all forms of violence and encourage the constant pursuit of social harmony," he insisted.

Since September 25, groups of mainly young Madagascans have been demonstrating in the capital Antananarivo to denounce the economic situation in the country, particularly the numerous water and electricity cuts. Clashes with the police have left 22 people dead and more than a hundred injured.

Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina dissolved the government, but this did not appease the protest movement, which is calling for his resignation.

One of the main targets of the protesters is businessman Mamy Ravotomanga, one of the country's wealthiest individuals, who is very close to the president and implicated in several corruption scandals.

The Catholic Church plays a very important role in Madagascar, where more than 80% of the population is Christian (Pew estimate, 2020). The country was visited by Pope Francis in 2019.

Aid cuts

On June 16, during a pilgrimage of Malagasy bishops to Rome, the president of the Episcopal Conference, Bishop Marie-Fabien Raharilamboniaina, spoke with Pope Leo XIV of the "aggravated poverty," the "betrayal" of the political class, and the "systemic corruption" of public services in his country.

"Madagascar is suffering from the withdrawal of American aid since the arrival of the [US] president," said the bishop of Morondava, adding that he was counting on the Pope's "kind intercession" with Donald Trump. The Trump administration significantly reduced international aid at the beginning of the year.

Leo XIV urged the Malagasy bishops not to "turn away from the poor, who are at the heart of the Gospel and are the privileged recipients of the Good News."