1 of 2 | Pope Leo XIV waves to supporters as he leaves after his visit to the Ngul Zamba orphanage in Yaounde, Cameroon, Wednesday. Pool photo by Alberto Pizzoli
Pope Leo XIV spent his second day in Cameroon in the city of Bamenda, the center of separatist fighting, calling for peace and criticizing the “masters of war.”
The pope also criticized those who manipulated “the very name of God” for their own gain. He was touring the area in the north of Cameroon that’s beset by violence as Anglophone separatists battle the French-speaking government.
The separatists paused the fighting for the pope’s three-day visit.
Leo’s 11-day tour started in Algeria. After Cameroon, he will travel to Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
The trip to Africa is important to the continent and the Catholic church. There are 14 new Catholic dioceses created in Africa in the past year, and the Catholic population has grown by 7 million.
The pontiff’s comments also come days after a battle of words with U.S. President Donald Trump over the war in Iran.
In Cameroon, Leo spoke of leaders who “turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”
“The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild,” he said.
Leo attacked “an endless cycle of destabilization and death” in a “bloodstained” region of the country. More than 6,000 people in the area have been killed in the fighting, and many more displaced.
“Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilization and death,” he told those gathered at the Cathedral of St. Joseph, the seat of the Archdiocese of Bamenda. The gathering was labeled a Meeting of Peace, and he was joined by Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda.
At the meeting, Leo heard the testimonies of the Supreme Traditional Chief of Mankon Fon Fru Asaah Angwafor IV; Emeritus Moderator of the Presbyterian Church Fonki Samuel Forba; Imam of the Central Mosque of Buea Mohammad Abubakar; Sister Carine Tangiri Mangu, a sister of St. Anne; and a family of displaced persons, Denis Salo, his wife and their three children.
After hearing their stories, Leo highlighted how their “lived experience of suffering” in community has strengthened their belief in God’s presence.
He also said the crisis in Cameroon has brought the Christian and Muslim communities closer together. “Indeed, your religious leaders have come together to establish a movement for peace, through which they seek to mediate between the opposing sides,” he said.
But he warned against those who “manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
He called on the people to walk together.
“As the Imam said, let us thank God that this crisis has not degenerated into a religious war, and that we are still trying to love one another.”
After Leo’s speech, Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally said she stood with the pope in his “courageous call for a kingdom of peace,” the BBC reported.
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Children race to push colored eggs across the grass during the annual Easter Egg Roll event on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on April 21, 2025. Easter this year takes place on April 5. Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
