Pope Leo XIV Condemns 'Tyrants' and War Spending During Landmark Visit to Cameroon

Pope Leo XIV declared that the world is being "ravaged by a handful of tyrants" who spend billions on war, delivering his sharpest public remarks yet during a speech at Saint Joseph's Cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon, on Thursday, April 16, as his nearly week-long public dispute with the White House over the U.S.-Israeli-led war on Iran continued to intensify. The first American-born pontiff did not mention President Donald Trump by name, but his words carried unmistakable weight given the escalating personal clash between the Vatican and Washington. Leo, who is on an 11 (days) — length of Pope Leo XIV's current Africa tour 11-day tour of Africa, spoke before a gathering that included Catholics, Protestants, Evangelicals, Muslims, and traditional chiefs in Bamenda, the epicenter of Cameroon's long-running Anglophone conflict. His remarks drew sustained applause from the crowd assembled at the cathedral, with the Archbishop of Bamenda, Andrew Nkea, stating that the Pope's presence brought "new hope" to populations whose lives had been disrupted for nearly a decade.

„The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild.” — Pope Leo XIV via NPR

„Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” — Pope Leo XIV via The Guardian

„The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.” — Pope Leo XIV via The Guardian

Bamenda is the capital of Cameroon's Northwest region and has been at the heart of the so-called Anglophone crisis, a conflict between the central government and English-speaking separatists that has lasted nearly a decade and left thousands dead. The visit to Bamenda marked the fourth time a pope has visited Cameroon during Paul Biya's presidency, which began in 1982. The choice of Bamenda airport for an open-air mass carried particular symbolic weight: the site was the epicenter of separatist violence in 2019, when attackers targeted a Camair flight, and the airport had been closed since that year before being reopened specifically to receive the Pope.

Trump posts AI image of himself as Christ, then deletes it The speech came days after Trump attacked Leo on social media, calling the Pope "weak on crime and soft on foreign policy" and suggesting he focus on religious matters rather than geopolitics. Trump also posted an AI-generated image to his Truth Social platform depicting himself being embraced by Jesus with the U.S. flag as a backdrop, which he later deleted following backlash. Vice President JD Vance, a converted Catholic, also weighed in, telling the Pope to "stay out of politics" and concentrate solely on "matters of morality." On Tuesday, Vance challenged Leo's position on the Iran war by invoking the Catholic tradition of just war theory, arguing at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Georgia that "when the pope says that God is never on the side of people who wield the sword, there is more than a 1,000-year tradition of just war theory." Leo, speaking to reporters on a plane to Algeria at the start of his trip, said he did not fear Trump and did not see himself as a politician.

„I do not see my role as that of a politician. I am not a politician and I do not want to enter a debate with him.” — Pope Leo XIV via Irish Examiner

„I continue to speak strongly against war, seeking to promote peace, dialogue and multilateralism among states to find solutions to problems.” — Pope Leo XIV via Irish Examiner

U.S. bishops push back hard on Vance's just war argument The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an unusually forceful statement on Wednesday, April 15, defending the Pope and directly rebutting Vance's interpretation of just war doctrine. The statement, attributed to James Massa, chair of the conference's committee on doctrine, argued that Vance had mis-stated Leo's position. The bishops stated that a constant tenet of just war tradition holds that a nation can only legitimately take up the sword "in self-defense, once all peace efforts have failed," and that this was precisely what Leo had said. The statement also asserted that when Leo XIV speaks as supreme pastor of the universal Church, "he is not merely offering opinions on theology, he is preaching the Gospel and exercising his ministry as the Vicar of Christ." The intervention represented a rare instance of the American Catholic hierarchy publicly contradicting a sitting U.S. vice president on a matter of Church teaching.

„For over a thousand years, the Catholic Church has taught just war theory and it is that long tradition the Holy Father carefully references in his comments on war.” — James Massa via The Guardian

Pope meets Biya, urges women and youth into decision-making Before traveling to Bamenda, Leo met with Cameroonian President Paul Biya at the Presidential Palace in Yaoundé, along with representatives of civil society and the diplomatic corps. During that meeting, Leo urged Cameroonian authorities to integrate the voices of women, youth, and civil society into decision-making processes, describing young people as "the hope of Cameroon and the Church." He also denounced corruption and called for greater respect for human rights, warning that peace "must not be reduced to a slogan." Biya, who has served as Cameroon's president since 1982 and was re-elected for an eighth term in 2025, had promised to make women and youth a priority, according to BBC reporting. After his meeting with Biya, Leo visited an orphanage and met with bishops before traveling north to Bamenda. The Africa tour, which began with stops in Algeria from April 13 to 15, is set to continue with visits to Angola from April 18 to 21 and Equatorial Guinea from April 21 to 23.

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