{"id":17043,"date":"2026-04-15T18:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/17043\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T18:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T18:09:20","slug":"pope-leo-xivs-cameroon-visit-focuses-on-peace-and-corruption-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/17043\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV’s Cameroon visit focuses on peace and corruption issues"},"content":{"rendered":"

YAOUNDE, Cameroon. (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV<\/a> arrived Wednesday in Cameroon<\/a> and delivered a masterclass on wielding authority legitimately to its 93-year-old president, Paul Biya, who consolidated his four-decade grip on power with a contested election last year that gave him an eighth term in office.<\/p>\n

The Vatican had said fighting corruption in the mineral-rich central African country would be one of the themes of Leo\u2019s visit, and the American pope didn\u2019t hold back in addressing Biya and government authorities in his arrival address at the presidential palace.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order for peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption \u2014 which disfigure authority and strip it of its credibility \u2014 must be broken,\u201d Leo said. \u201cHearts must be set free from an idolatrous thirst for profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The president, who is the world\u2019s oldest, sat passively as Leo read his speech in French. Cameroonian television halted its live feed for parts of Leo\u2019s speech, but it wasn\u2019t clear if technical glitches were to blame.<\/p>\n

The Vatican has made clear that Catholic social teaching disapproves of the types of authoritarian leaders that Leo is encountering on his four-nation African visit<\/a>, the first to the continent by history\u2019s first U.S.-born pope.<\/p>\n

Pope calls for a \u2018bold leap\u2019<\/p>\n

Biya<\/a> has led Cameroon since 1982 and just Tuesday signed into law a bill that reintroduces the vice president position<\/a>, a move the opposition says will further strengthen his grip on power.<\/p>\n

Cameroon\u2019s opposition has contested the result of the Oct. 12 election that secured the victory for Biya. His election rival Issa Tchiroma Bakary<\/a> claims to have won and has called on Cameroonians to reject the official result.<\/p>\n

Leo told Biya, Cameroon generals, diplomats and civil society representatives that Cameroon needed to take \u201ca bold leap forward\u201d to impose transparency in public finances and integrate civil society organizations into the fabric of daily life.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Caro<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Cameroon's<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWith such a change of approach, civil society must be recognized as a vital force for national cohesion. Cameroon is ready for this transition!\u201d Leo said. Young people in general, and women in particular had a vital role to play in bringing Cameroon into a new dawn, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir commitment to education, mediation and the rebuilding of the social fabric is unparalleled and serves to curb corruption and abuses of power. For this reason, too, their voice must be fully recognized in decision- making processes,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n

Leo, who wrote his canon law dissertation on the wielding of authority by Augustinian religious superiors, cited St. Augustine on the correct role of political leaders, saying the saint\u2019s words from 1,600 years ago have great relevance today.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who rule serve those whom they seem to command; for they rule not from a love of power, but from a sense of the duty they owe to others,\u201d Leo said, quoting Augustine. <\/p>\n

He added: \u201cFrom this perspective, serving one\u2019s country means dedicating oneself, with a clear mind and an upright conscience, to the common good of all people in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

A rousing welcome as Leo arrives<\/p>\n

Cheering Cameroonians gave Leo a raucous welcome, the first pope to visit since Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. They lined the road into the capital Yaounde from the airport, two and three deep in places, dancing and waving palm fronds as the pope\u2019s motorcade whizzed by.<\/p>\n

Many women dressed in identical bright dresses and stood behind banners announcing the name of their parish, while billboards splashed posters of the pope and Biya under the banner \u201cLand of Hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gerald Mambeh, a teacher in Yaounde, said the pope\u2019s visit needs to spark genuine dialogue and accountability to achieve lasting peace.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis visit feels like light entering a dark room\u2026 but peace will not come from symbolism alone,\u201d said Mambeh, a Catholic. \u201cIn a country where many feel abandoned, his presence feels like God has not forgotten us. Let the pope hear this beyond the politics: Cameroonians are not asking for miracles, we are asking for fairness, dignity, and a future.\u201d<\/p>\n

A peace meeting and a pause in fighting<\/p>\n

Leo has two major events in Cameroon, with the highlight a \u201cpeace meeting\u201d<\/a> on Thursday in Cameroon\u2019s northwest city of Bamenda, which has been plagued by separatist violence.<\/a><\/p>\n

English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017 with the stated goal of breaking away from Cameroon\u2019s French-speaking majority and establishing an independent state. The conflict has killed <\/a> more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group, a think tank.<\/p>\n

On the eve of Leo\u2019s arrival, the English-speaking separatists announced a three-day pause<\/a> in fighting to allow \u201csafe travel\u201d for his visit.<\/p>\n

The Unity Alliance, which includes several separatist groups, said in a statement Monday the pause reflects the \u201cprofound spiritual importance\u201d of the visit and is intended to allow civilians, pilgrims and dignitaries to travel safely.<\/p>\n

Leo\u2019s other big event in Cameroon, where about 29% of the population is Catholic, is a Mass on Friday in the city of Douala, where some 600,000 people are expected to turn out.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Leo heads to Angola for the third leg of his trip, which ends next week in Equatorial Guinea.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration<\/a> with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"YAOUNDE, Cameroon. (AP) \u2014 Pope Leo XIV arrived Wednesday in Cameroon and delivered a masterclass on wielding authority…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17044,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[7869,1277,3375,286,50,10572,8,10571,9,10570,7786,2057,969,7,106],"class_list":{"0":"post-17043","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-stories","8":"tag-cameroon","9":"tag-catholic-church","10":"tag-corruption","11":"tag-elections","12":"tag-general-news","13":"tag-gerald-mambeh","14":"tag-headlines","15":"tag-issa-tchiroma-bakary","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-paul-biya","18":"tag-pope-benedict-xvi","19":"tag-pope-leo-xiv","20":"tag-religion","21":"tag-top-stories","22":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@news\/116410067520864923","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}