Pope Leo XIV urges peace, justice in Cameroon visit as Africa tour continues

Pope Leo XIV turned Cameroon into the center of his Africa tour on Friday, celebrating a Mass in Douala before more than 120,000 people and using the platform to press a message of peace, justice and shared responsibility in a country marked by conflict, poverty and disputed politics.

The open-air liturgy was moved to a parking area next to Japoma Stadium to accommodate the crowd, which gathered in stifling 90-degree heat. Speaking in both French and English, Pope Leo told the faithful that there is bread for everyone if it is shared, linking the Gospel story of multiplication to the need to feed the hungry and promote peace, freedom and justice. Vatican and local authorities said the turnout underscored the scale of the moment in a nation where the Catholic Church remains one of the most influential institutions.

Cameroon was the second stop on the pope’s four-nation Africa trip, which began April 13 and was set to continue through April 23, with stops also in Algeria, Angola and Equatorial Guinea. He arrived in Yaoundé on Wednesday at 2:57 p.m. local time and was expected to remain in Cameroon until Saturday before traveling onward to Angola and then Equatorial Guinea. The Vatican said the Cameroon leg of the journey would focus on peace, corruption, the correct use of political authority, reconciliation, justice and development.

Those themes landed in a country where the political and security pressures are already severe. Pope Leo met President Paul Biya, 93, whose eighth-term victory in the disputed 2024 election was contested by the opposition. He also addressed government authorities, civil servants and diplomats, and a Vatican-backed peace meeting in Bamenda put the separatist crisis in the northwest and southwest regions at the center of the visit. That conflict, which began in 2017, has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000, according to the International Crisis Group. Cameroon also continues to face Boko Haram-linked violence in the north.

The pope’s visit has also highlighted the country’s economic contradictions. Cameroon is rich in oil, natural gas, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamonds, and the extractive sector accounts for nearly a third of exports, according to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. Yet the World Food Programme says 2.9 million people face food insecurity and humanitarian need.

That tension between national wealth and local hardship made the Douala Mass more than a devotional event. Vatican statistics released April 9 showed Cameroon had 8,303,000 Catholics, or 28.87 percent of the population, along with 26 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 1,426 parishes as of December 31, 2024. In a country where the church is both a spiritual force and a civic institution, Pope Leo’s visit signaled where the Catholic world’s energy and future influence increasingly lie.