Pressmediaofindia
Related Articles
18-04-2026
ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT: Pope Leo set off for Cameroon, where he is expected to appeal for peace in the simmering conflict in the country’s English-speaking regions on the second leg of an ambitious 10-day tour of four African countries.
Leo, who was attacked again, opens new tab overnight by US President Donald Trump over the pope’s opposition to the Iran war, will arrive from Algeria, where he blasted violations of international law by “neocolonial” world powers.
Leo left Algiers on Wednesday morning and was expected to land in Yaounde, Cameroon’s capital, around 3:20 pm (1420 GMT), ahead of a meeting with President Paul Biya and an address to national leaders.
Cameroon is a former German colony that was divided by Britain and France after World War One. Over the last decade, thousands have died in violence between government forces and separatist groups in its two anglophone regions.
A separatist alliance said on Monday it would observe a three-day “safe travel passage” to allow civilians and visitors to move freely during the pope’s visit.
Leo, originally from Chicago, was chosen to lead the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church last May after the death of Pope Francis.
He kept a relatively low profile in his first 10 months, but in recent weeks has become outspoken on a range of issues, and a firm critic of the US-Israeli war against Iran.
Trump called the pontiff “terrible” on social media on Sunday, and doubled down on Tuesday night, despite widespread backlash from US Christians across the political spectrum.
The pope told media on Monday that he planned to keep criticizing the war, regardless of Trump’s comments.
Leo, aged 70, relatively young for a pope and in good health, is undertaking one of the most complicated tours arranged for a pontiff in decades.
He is traversing nearly 18,000 km (11,185 miles) over 18 flights to 11 cities and towns and will also visit Angola and Equatorial Guinea.
The pope will travel on Thursday to Bamenda, Cameroon’s largest English-speaking city, holding Mass and a “meeting for peace” in a cathedral.
The biggest event of Leo’s tour will likely come in Cameroon on Friday, when the Vatican said some 600,000 are expected for a Mass in the coastal city of Douala.
US President Donald Trump, whose war and immigration policies have been condemned by Pope Leo, reiterated his criticism of the religious leader on Tuesday night. In a post on Truth Social, Trump urged that “someone please tell Pope Leo” about the killings of protesters by Iran and that “for Iran to have a Nuclear Bomb is absolutely unacceptable.”
The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. Iran responded with its own strikes on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. US-Israeli strikes on Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.
Iran does not have nuclear weapons while the US does. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons.
While Western countries have long believed that Iran wants a nuclear bomb or at least the ability to make one very quickly, Tehran has always denied that, citing its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Trump’s comments come after Pope Leo warned earlier in the day of the risk of democracies sliding into “majoritarian tyranny”.
The first US pope, Leo wrote in a letter issued by the Vatican about the use of power in democratic societies, and said democracies remained healthy only when they were rooted in moral values. (Int’l News Desk)
