Large crowds gathered outside a stadium in Douala, Cameroon’s biggest city and economic hub, for a Mass with Pope Leoon Friday that was billed as the biggest event of the pontiff’s four-nation Africa tour.
The Vatican, citing local authorities, estimated that 120,000 people had headed towards Japoma Stadium to be part of the celebration and hear an address from the pope, who has become outspoken on war and inequality and drawn the ire of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Amid a heavy security presence, some Cameroonians made their way to the stadium on Thursday, sleeping there overnight so they could witness Leo speak in person.
“It was difficult – the cold, the mosquitoes and everything,” said one participant, Kevin Kaegam.
“But since we want to see the supreme pontiff, we had no choice.”
Leo, the first U.S. pope, has debuted a new, forceful speaking style on his Africa tour. Speaking in Cameroon on Thursday, he said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants“, without naming anybody.
Material And Spiritual Poverty
After arriving in Douala by plane from Yaounde, Leo said on Friday that many in Cameroon experience “material and spiritual poverty” but called on believers to reject violence as a means to get ahead, regardless of the hardships they face.
“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” the pope urged, in an appeal made in English during a speech that was otherwise mostly in French.
“Reject every form of abuse or violence, which deceives by promising easy gains but hardens the heart and makes it insensitive.”
Invoking the miracle of the loaves and fishes recounted in the Gospels, in which Jesus fed thousands with meagre resources, Leo said: “There is bread for everyone if it is given to everyone. There is bread for everyone if it is taken, not with a hand that snatches away, but with a hand that gives.”
Leo was also due to visit a Catholic hospital during his four-hour stay in Douala before returning to Yaounde.
(with inputs from Reuters)
