By Joshua McElwee
Pope Leo XIV denounced leaders who spend “billions” on war and lamented a world ravaged by “masters of war” and “a handful of tyrants” in unusually offensive remarks made in Cameroon, following new attacks from US President Donald Trump.
As the first pope from the United States, Leo also criticized the use of religious rhetoric to justify conflicts and called for a “decisive change of course” during a meeting in the main city of the English-speaking regions of the country, which has been the center of a conflict for almost a decade resulting in thousands of deaths.
“The masters of war pretend not to know that it only takes an instant to destroy, while a whole lifetime is often not enough to rebuild,” declared the pontiff.
“They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and destroying, while the resources needed for healing, education, and restoration remain elusive.”
UPSIDE-DOWN WORLD
Trump’s attacks on Leo, launched the day before the pope’s ambitious African tour and reiterated on Tuesday, have caused dismay in Africa, home to over a fifth of the world’s Catholics.
Leo, relatively quiet during most of his first year at the helm of the 1.4 billion-strong Church, has emerged as a fierce critic of the war triggered by American and Israeli strikes against Iran.
On Thursday, the Bishop of Rome strongly criticized leaders who use religious themes to justify wars.
“Woe to those who manipulate religion and even the name of God for their own military, economic, and political profit, obscuring what is sacred in darkness and filth,” he declared.
“It is an upside-down world, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by all honest consciences.”
The pope had made similar remarks last month, stating that God rejects the prayers of leaders with “blood-soaked hands,” comments widely interpreted as targeting US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has used typical Christian semantics to justify war against Iran.
Donald Trump launched his criticism against Leo on Sunday, calling the pope “WEAK on crime and catastrophic in foreign policy” in a post on Truth Social.
The American president attacked him again on social media on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, he posted an image depicting Jesus admonishing. This image followed another where he was portrayed as Jesus and which he eventually deleted, bowing to the controversy.
CLERGY CAUGHT IN CAMEROON CONFLICT
Leo warned on Monday to Reuters that he will not stop talking about the Iran war even if he has avoided any direct address to Donald Trump.
After arriving on Wednesday in the Cameroonian capital Yaounde, he urged the government of this Central African country, led by 93-year-old President Paul Biya, the world’s eldest incumbent head of state, to eradicate corruption and resist “the whims of the rich and powerful.”
The pope’s visit on Thursday to the English-speaking city of Bamenda raised hopes of a slight progress in resolving the conflict rooted in the country’s complex colonial and post-colonial history.
Formerly a German colony, Cameroon was divided between Britain and France after World War I. The French part gained independence in 1960 and was joined a year later by the English-speaking western region from British administration, marked by a strong Protestant tradition.
More than 6,500 people have been killed and over 500,000 displaced in the fighting between government forces and Anglophone separatist groups, according to the International Crisis Group.
Priests are regularly abducted for ransom and some have been killed. A separatist alliance announced a three-day ceasefire to allow civilians and visitors to move freely during the pope’s visit.
Mediation attempts for a peace agreement have so far failed, even though Leo expressed his joy on Thursday that the crisis “has not degenerated into a religious war” and expressed confidence that Christian and Muslim leaders could work towards ending the conflict.
(Joshua McElwee; French version by Nicolas Delame, edited by Benoit Van Overstraeten)
