By Joshua McElwee
Bamenda, Cameroon — Pope Leo headed to the biggest city in Cameroon’s conflict-hit anglophone region on Thursday, the latest stop on the pontiff’s four-country Africa tour that has seen him come under attack from US President Donald Trump.
Trump’s attacks on Leo, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the Iran war, have caused dismay in Africa, home to more than a fifth of the world’s Catholics.
US vice-president JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, has joined in, saying the pope was wrong to say that disciples of Christ were “never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs” and that “it’s very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology”.
Leo has said that he won’t stop speaking out about the war and has avoided responding to Trump directly since Monday.
After arriving in the Cameroon capital, Yaounde, on Wednesday, he urged the government of the Central African nation — led by President Paul Biya, at 93 the world’s oldest ruler — to root out corruption and resist “the whims of the rich and powerful”.
Read: African Catholics decry Trump’s spat with Pope Leo
Leo’s trip on Thursday to the anglophone city of Bamenda has stirred faint hope that steps might be taken to resolve the conflict there, rooted in the country’s colonial and post-colonial history.
Cameroon, a former German colony, was partitioned by Britain and France after World War 1. The French region secured independence in 1960 and was joined a year later by the smaller English-speaking British area to the west.
More than 6,500 people have been killed and more than half a million displaced in fighting between government forces and anglophone separatist groups, according to the International Crisis Group.
Priests are frequently kidnapped for ransom, and some have been killed. A separatist alliance said it would observe a three-day ceasefire to allow civilians and visitors to move freely during the pope’s visit.
Biya has not travelled to the anglophone regions since the fighting began.
Thousands lined the streets under a brilliant mid-morning sun near Bamenda’s airport ahead of the pope’s arrival on Thursday, waving Vatican and Cameroonian flags as a press convoy drove by.
The route the pope will take, along an unmarked concrete road, goes through a neighbourhood of simple housing made with mud bricks and corrugated roofs.
Archbishop of Canterbury stands with Pope Leo’s call for peace
London — The Archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, said on Thursday that she stood with Pope Leo in his “courageous call for a kingdom of peace“, urging 85-million Anglicans worldwide to join the pontiff in speaking out for peace and justice.
The comments from Mullally, the first woman to lead the Church of England, come after repeated attacks on the pope by US President Donald Trump.
“I stand with my brother in Christ, His Holiness Pope XIV, in his courageous call for a kingdom of peace,” Mullally, also the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, said in a statement.
“It is the calling of every Christian ― and of all people of faith and goodwill ― to work and pray for peace. We must also urge all those entrusted with political authority to pursue every possible peaceful and just means of resolving conflict.”
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