Bamenda (Cameroon) (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV on Thursday criticised the “tyrants” ransacking the world, on a high-security visit to a “bloodstained” region of Cameroon, as his war of words with US President Donald Trump continued. Trump has squared off with the first American pontiff in recent days, taking issue with the pope’s criticism of the war in the Middle East. Trump took a new swipe in comments to journalists Thursday, saying the pope can say what he likes about international issues, but needs to understand the realities of a “nasty world”.
That came after the pope gave a forceful speech in northwestern Cameroon, his latest stop on a landmark four-nation African tour that has seen him abandon his previous restraint in speaking out in favour of world peace. “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,” Leo said in the city of Bamenda, the epicentre of a nearly decade-long English-speaking separatist insurgency that has killed thousands. “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters,” the pontiff said at Bamenda’s Saint Joseph’s Cathedral.
Speaking later, Trump struck a more conciliatory tone than in recent days, but still sought to school the pope on the war in Iran. “The pope has to understand Iran has killed more than 42,000 people over the last few months,” he said. “They were totally unarmed protesters. The pope has to understand that. This is the real world, it’s a nasty world.” He denied he was “fighting” with the pontiff, saying he had “nothing against” him.
The barbs come after US Vice President JD Vance — a Catholic — urged the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality”. But the mood was joyous as the pope arrived in Bamenda under a military escort in a popemobile with bulletproof windows, blessing the worshippers who had gathered, many singing and blowing vuvuzela horns, to welcome him. As he left the cathedral, Leo released white doves, a symbol of peace in a region of the central African country he called a “bloodstained yet fertile land that has been mistreated”.
At Bamenda airport — renovated for his visit after being shut since 2019 because of the insurgency — Leo condemned the ongoing exploitation of Africa in a mass. He criticised “those who, in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it”. Cameroon is rich in natural resources such as oil, timber, cocoa, coffee, and minerals, which have attracted both foreign firms and local elites for decades.
On arrival in the country on Wednesday, the pope appealed to Cameroon’s leaders to examine their “conscience” and tackle corruption and rights abuses, in an uncharacteristically pointed speech at the presidential palace attended by longtime President Paul Biya. Leo’s trip comes six months after the authorities violently put down protests against 93-year-old Biya’s disputed re-election for an eighth term.
Security measures had been stepped up on the main routes through Bamenda for the visit. Cameroon’s two anglophone regions have suffered almost a decade of armed violence following attempts to secede from the rest of the mostly French-speaking central African country. Teacher Vivian Ndey, 60, from Bamenda, welcomed the pope carrying a “plant of peace” as a symbol of hope. She spoke at the cathedral of the difficulty of teaching during the crisis, saying teachers were afraid to come to class and students had vanished.
Conflict erupted after Biya, who has ruled since 1982, violently repressed peaceful demonstrations in 2016 by English speakers who felt marginalised. Civilians have been targeted with killings and kidnappings. At least 6,000 people have been killed since 2016, according to the United Nations. On Monday, separatist groups announced a three-day truce to welcome the pope. After the Bamenda trip, Leo is to hold a mass at a stadium in the economic capital Douala on Friday, before leaving Cameroon for Angola on Saturday. He then travels to Equatorial Guinea.
© 2024 AFP
