On his second day in Cameroona region in civil war for a decade, the Pope Leo XIV He criticized those who use religion to justify military actions.
“The world is being destroyed by a few tyrants“he said in his message during a peace meeting today in Bamendain northwest Cameroon, and which was replicated in its social networks officers.
“Woe to those who bend religions and the very name of God to their own military, economic and political interests, dragging what is holy towards what is most dirty and dark!”.
The meeting took place in the St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda.
Leo XIV leads meeting for peace in Cameroon
This Thursday, the pontiff visited the northern region of Cameroon, which in 2016 entered into conflict due to a civil war with English-speaking separatists that has left, to date, 6,500 dead and more than 500,000 displaced.
At the meeting, the pope criticized “those who plunder the earth’s resources,” usually to “invest a large part of the profits in weapons, in a spiral of destabilization and endless death.”
“Warlords pretend not to know that a moment is enough to destroy, but that a life is often not enough to rebuild. They pretend not to see that billions of dollars are needed to kill and devastate, and that the necessary resources are not found to heal, educate and uplift.”.
Cameroon is a region rich in resources such as oil, gas and minerals, however, 26.7% of the population is in poverty, according to data from the World Bank (WB).
“This is a world upside down, a distortion of God’s creation that every right conscience must denounce and repudiate.“said the Vicar of Christ.
Leo
In addition, he thanked both secular and religious people, especially women, for caring for people affected and traumatized by violence in the region.
“The world is being destroyed by a few tyrants and is kept standing thanks to an immensity of brothers and sisters in solidarity.”.
According to figures from the United Nations Organization (UN), 1.8 of the four million inhabitants of the English-speaking regions in the region need humanitarian aid due to the armed conflict.
Around 250 thousand children are among those affected.
The Pope in Africa
This week, Leo XIV began a trip to the African continent, during which he already visited Algeriaand in this second stage is in Cameroon. It will later be moved to Angola y Equatorial Guinea.
His trip has been marked by the president’s verbal attacks Donald Trumpfrom the United States, who criticized the pontiff for being “weak against crime” and “terrible in foreign policy.”
This in response to the Pope’s calls for peace and his criticism of recent wars.
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