As Pope Leo XIV continues his Africa tour, he has repeatedly condemned war. On Thursday in Cameroon he renewed a call for peace while presiding over a meeting meant to foster dialogue in a region beset by nearly a decade of simmering violence.
Speaking at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda — where cheering crowds lined the streets — the pontiff denounced a “handful of tyrants” he said are spending billions to “ravage” the world through exploitation and war. His remarks come as US President Donald Trump has publicly criticized the pope’s broader antiwar statements and his comments on a possible Iran conflict.
At the peace meeting, attended by a Mankon tribal chief, a Presbyterian moderator, a Muslim imam and a Catholic nun, Leo declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers,” and warned, “Woe to 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 the current situation “a world turned upside down,” an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced by every honest conscience.
The pope also accused those who strip land of resources of funneling profits into weapons, “thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilization and death.” Bamenda sits at the epicenter of the conflict between government forces and English-speaking separatists. The comment will likely resonate in Washington, where the Pentagon — specifically Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth — has sought to frame some operations in Iran as a “holy war.”
Cameroon was divided between France and Britain after World War I and is rich in oil, natural gas, bauxite, cobalt, iron ore, gold and diamonds. In 1961 English speakers voted to join French Cameroon but have since complained of political and economic marginalization. The country’s two Anglophone regions have seen severe violence amid separatist bids to break away from the largely Francophone state.
The current crisis followed the violent suppression of peaceful English-speaking protests by President Paul Biya — in power since 1982 — in 2016. More than 6,000 civilians have been killed in fighting since then, and over 600,000 people displaced; kidnapping and extortion are widespread.
Archbishop of Bamenda Andrew Nkea Fuanya told the pope that the region’s people have been tormented by “a situation they did not create,” adding, “Most Holy Father, today your feet are standing on the soil of Bamenda that has drunk the blood of many of our children.”
Edited by: Wesley Dockery