Overview
- Pope Leo, who led a peace meeting Thursday in Bamenda, warned against “tyrants” and blasted those who use God’s name to justify war.
- In Yaoundé, he urged President Paul Biya’s government to break the “chains of corruption” and said real peace needs laws that shield citizens from the powerful.
- English-speaking separatists announced a three-day pause in fighting to allow safe travel for the visit, and security forces lined the route as large crowds turned out.
- The trip unfolds as a public dispute with President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance continues over the Iran war, after Trump’s deleted Jesus-like image and the pope’s vow to keep denouncing war.
- The Anglophone conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced about 600,000, and the pope’s stops include a large Mass in Douala before he moves on to Angola and Equatorial Guinea.