Pope Leo XIV Slams “Tyrants” Ravaging World in Cameroon
Pope Leo XIV delivered a forceful condemnation of what he termed “a handful of tyrants” ravaging the world with war and exploitation, speaking from the heart of Cameroon’s separatist conflict during his four-nation African tour on Thursday.
The pontiff travelled to Bamenda, the capital of Cameroon’s Northwest Region, where jubilant crowds lined roads, blowing horns and dancing to welcome the first papal visit to the restive Anglophone area. The city lies at the centre of a near-decade-long armed struggle between government forces and separatist militias seeking an independent state called Ambazonia.
At St. Joseph Cathedral, built on land donated by the Mankon traditional authorities, Pope Leo presided over a peace meeting that included a Mankon chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam, and a Catholic nun. The gathering highlighted an interfaith movement that has sought to mediate the conflict and provide relief to its victims.
“Blessed are the peacemakers!” the pope declared. “But 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 for a “decisive change of course” away from conflict and the exploitation of land and people, adding: “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!”
The remarks came days after United States President Donald Trump renewed his public criticism of the pope on social media, though neither the Vatican nor the White House has elaborated on the nature of the dispute. Observers noted that the pope’s warning against using religion to justify conflict echoes concerns raised during the ongoing United States-Israeli military campaign in Iran.
The conflict in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions traces its roots to the country’s colonial partition between France and Britain following World War I. English-speaking territories voted in a United Nations-backed plebiscite to join French Cameroon in 1961, but separatist grievances over political marginalisation and linguistic discrimination simmered for decades. In 2017, armed groups launched a rebellion demanding full independence.
According to data compiled by the International Crisis Group, the conflict has claimed more than 6,000 lives and displaced over 600,000 people. Thousands more have fled across the border into neighbouring Nigeria, particularly Cross River, Benue, and Taraba states, placing additional strain on host communities already grappling with their own security challenges.
Separatist fighters declared a temporary pause in hostilities to allow the papal visit to proceed without incident. It remained unclear whether any representatives of the armed groups attended the mass Pope Leo celebrated later Thursday before his scheduled return to Yaoundé.
The Vatican has not issued further details on the pope’s itinerary, but the Bamenda stop is widely seen as a deliberate effort to draw global attention to what aid agencies describe as one of the world’s most neglected humanitarian crises.