Luanda - Pope Benedict XVI rounded off a week-long trip to Africa with an outdoor mass attended by 1 million worshippers near the Angolan capital Luanda on Sunday.

The pontiff called on the crowd to "build a better future" for their country and for Africa, and leave behind them the tribal feuding and civil wars that have bedevilled the continent.

But Benedict began by praying for the two young women killed in a crush at an open-air speech in a stadium he gave on Saturday, and said he was "very upset" by the deaths. Forty others were injured in the stampede.

Referring to Angola's long civil war after independence from Portugal, the Pope said: "This experience is all too familiar to Africa as a whole - 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," he said.

"Future generations must build a continent on reconciliation, peace and justice," he added.

Sunday's mass was the culmination of the pontiff's first trip to Africa, which also saw him visit Cameroon before three days in Angola.

Benedict urged the mass not allow materialism to dominate their lives. "Greed corrupts the heart, enslaving people," he said, calling on future generations to create a fairer and more cohesive society.

He warned that "selfish thinking" led to false utopias, drug abuse, sexual immorality, the weakening of marriage and the killing of innocent lives by abortion.

Benedict told younger Africans in the audience: "You are the future - the hope of the promise of a better tomorrow."

As well as Angolans, representatives from various tribes and ethnic groups from all over southern Africa were in the congregation.

The pope also praised the work of missionaries, who first brought Christianity to Angola 500 years ago.

In his farewell Angelus prayer Benedict prayed for an end to conflict in both Angola and in the "neighbouring region of the Great Lakes."

Before leaving Angola, the pope was due to meet Catholic groups committed to the advancement of women.

On Monday he is due to return to Rome.