On the last leg of his tour of Africa, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air Mass in Conotou, Benin, Sunday and said authentic leadership must be a show of service, not power.

The message of the Mass has been widely taken as a commentary on Africa's ruling class.

"Today, like 2,000 years ago, we are accustomed to seeing the signs of royalty in success, strength, money and power. We find it hard to accept such a king, a king who makes himself the servant of the little ones, of the most humble," the pope said.

"True royalty does not consist in a show of power, but in humility of service. Not in the oppression of the weak, but in the ability to protect them," he said at the Sunday Mass in Benin's National Soccer Stadium.

The message seemed remarkably apt as Benin is one of the few African countries with an actual functioning democracy. Its president still resides in the same home he has lived in since before he was elected in a sharp contrast to his peers in the government, some of which are under investigations for spending millions of dollars of the government's money for personal gain.

Recently, there have been so many applicants for the priesthood that Africa has been sending "reverse missionaries" all over the world. It was in this vein that the pope said that he sees the continent as the "spiritual lungs of humanity."

"I wanted to visit Africa once more. It is a continent for which I have a special regard and affection, for I'm deeply convinced that it is a land of hope. ... Here are found authentic values which have much to teach our world. Why should an African country not show the rest of the world the path?" the pope said in remarks reported by The Guardian.

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