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19-04-2026
YAOUNDE: More than 120,000 people have joined Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon for an open-air Mass, the biggest crowd so far during his 11-day Africa tour.
Arriving in the economic city of Douala on Friday, the Pope reiterated his message of peace after visiting the country’s Anglophone region hit by a decade-long rebellion on Thursday.
Jubliant crowds welcomed Pope Leo as he arrived at the Japoma Stadium.
Standing in his vehicle, known as the Popemobile, the pontiff waved at the droves of people waiting for his entrance.
Some worshippers camped outside the premises on Thursday night in a bid to get a prime spot for the pontiff’s address, with some having been there for more than 24 hours.
By Friday, tens of thousands of people of all ages, including several from the priesthood, braved the heat to participate in the occasion.
Pope Leo’s message on Friday was focused on spiritual matters, and encouraging young people to diversify their talents and support their communities.
“Reject every form of abuse or violence, which deceives by promising easy gains but hardens the heart and makes it insensitive,” the pontiff said.
“Do not let yourselves be corrupted by temptations that waste your energies and do not serve the progress of society,” he added.
Some attendees told media they were happy to have seen and listened to the Pope, echoing a growing desire for peace to return to the conflict-hit nation.
As they raised their hands in prayer, some raised umbrellas and books over their heads to keep cool. Others were left wiping sweat from their face.
Worship took different forms for those in the crowds. Some clasped their hands together, while others prostrated themselves.
On the fifth day of his Africa tour and his third in Cameroon, Pope Leo also visited the St Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala.
His 11-day trip started on Monday with Algeria, marking the first visit to the Muslim majority country by any Pope. The Pope travels in Angola, and end his tour of the continent in Equatorial Guinea.
Earlier, Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit region of Cameroon.
It is one of several forthright remarks he has made over the last day, including blasting those who spend billions on wars and telling Cameroon’s government to root out corruption for peace to prevail.
He has spent the day in Bamenda, a city at the centre of Cameroon’s brutal and long-running separatist rebellion.
Internal problems were exacerbated by outsiders who “in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it”, he told an estimated 20,000 worshippers at a Mass at Bamenda Airport.
Joyful crowds sang, drummed and waved flags to welcome the leader of the Catholic Church, who arrived under military escort in a bullet-proof white vehicle.
Ahead of his visit, Anglophone separatists had announced a period of “safe travel passage”.
The Pope’s first stop was at a peace meeting in Bamenda held at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral about the nearly 10-year insurgency in Cameroon’s two English-speaking regions that has left at least 6,000 people dead and many more forced from their homes.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” he told the gathering comments that follow US President Donald Trump’s recent criticism of the pontiff, who last year became the first US-born Pope. (Int’l News Desk)
