Greeted by 1.2L in Cameroon, Pope attacks uneven wealth distribution

Douala: Pope Leo XIV used a Mass attended by more than 1,00,000 people in Cameroon on Friday to openly criticise the uneven distribution of wealth. Speaking in the port city of Douala, Cameroon’s financial and economic hub, he said despite the richness of the land in Cameroon, which is a young country and one-third Catholic, many experience both material and spiritual poverty.

The Vatican quoted local organisers’ estimates about 1,20,000 attended the Mass, expected to be one of the largest turnouts during his 11-day, four-nation Africa trip. 

Leo has not shied away from direct challenges to authority on the trip, earlier this week railing against corruption in the presence of President Paul Biya, who has been in power for over 40 years. “For peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption, which disfigure authority and strip it of its credibility, must be broken,” he said on Wednesday, adding hearts must be set free from “the idolatry of self and money.”

In Douala on Friday, the big field near Japoma Stadium was bursting with people singing, swaying and dancing as an announcer shouted “Habemus Papam!” (We have a pope!). The Latin phrase is used to announce the election of a new pope but in this case joyfully announced Leo’s arrival.

The crowd cheered when Leo emerged in his open-sided popemobile, with waves of people running alongside him trying to keep up as he looped through the crowd. Some had spent the night on the ground, battling mosquitoes but said they were willing to make the sacrifice for the pope.

In his homily, delivered in French and English, Leo cited the biblical story of Jesus’ multiplication of loaves in urging young people to “multiply your talents through the faith, perseverance and friendship.”

“Be the first faces and hands that bring the bread of life to your neighbours, providing them with the food of wisdom and deliverance from all that does not nourish them, but rather obscures good desires and robs them of their digni­ty,” he said. Leo urged them to look beyond the poverty and disillusionment many experience and look to the future with hope.