As Pope Leo XIV continues his tour of Africa, he remains steadfast in his condemnation of the war.
On Thursday, the head of the Roman Catholic Church reiterated his message of peace in Cameroon, chairing a meeting to promote dialogue in a place that has suffered nearly a decade of violence.
Speaking at St Joseph’s Cathedral in the city of Bamenda, where cheering crowds lined the streets to welcome him, Leo criticized “a handful of tyrants” who he said were spending billions to “ruin” the world through exploitation and war.
The pontiff’s words have taken on new meaning recently as US President Donald Trump continues to publicly hit out at him over the Pope’s criticism of war in general and Trump’s Iran war in particular.
‘Blessed are the peacemakers,’ says Leo. ‘Shame on those who manipulate religion.’
At Thursday’s peace meeting, which was attended by a Mancon tribal chief, a Presbyterian moderator, a Muslim imam and a Catholic nun, Leo said, “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by many supportive brothers and sisters!”
“Blessed are the peacemakers,” Leo said, “but woe to those who manipulate religion and the name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging what is holy into darkness and filth.”
“This is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be condemned and rejected by every honest conscience.”
“Those who plunder your land of its resources usually invest the bulk of the profits in weapons, perpetuating an endless cycle of instability and death,” Leo said in Bamenda, the center of conflict between government forces and English-speaking separatists.
These words, too, will register in Washington, where the Pentagon – particularly Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth – has sought to brand the operation in Iran as a “holy war.”
Cameroon’s conflict is linked to the distribution of spoils after World War I.
Cameroon, which was divided between the French and the British after the end of World War I, has major oil, natural gas, bauxite, cobalt, iron ore, gold and diamond reserves.
In 1961, English speakers voted to join French Cameroon, but have since expressed frustration at their political and economic marginalization in the Central African country.
Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions have faced severe violence in recent years in the wake of attempts to secede from the largely Francophone nation.
The current conflict erupted when President Paul Biya, in power since 1982, violently crushed a peaceful demonstration by English-speaking citizens in 2016.
More than 6,000 civilians have been killed and more than 600,000 displaced in the fighting since 2016. Kidnapping and extortion are also rampant.
Archbishop of Bamenda Andrew Nkeya Fuanya told Leo that the people of the region are “suffering from a situation they have not created,” adding, “Most Holy Father, today your feet stand on the soil of Bamenda that has drank the blood of so many of our children.”
Edited by: Wesley Dockery