DOUALA, Cameroon —Pope Leo XIV used a Mass attended by more than 100,000 people in Cameroon on Friday to openly criticize the uneven distribution of wealth.
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Speaking in the port city of Douala, Cameroon’s financial and economic hub, he said that 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 organizers' estimates that about 120,000 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 more than 40 years. “In order for peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption — which disfigure authority and strip it of its credibility — must be broken,” he had said Wednesday, adding that hearts must be set free from “the idolatry of self and money.”
In Douala on Friday, the big field in front of the 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 at the field.
Saneless on April 17th, 2026 at 23:23 UTC »
If you had told me 25 years ago that I'd be rooting for the catholic church, you would have seen me die from laughing so hard
Yet here we are
fxkatt on April 17th, 2026 at 23:18 UTC »
57% of the workforce is engaged in casual labor, thus the Pope's assault on the corrupt Cameroon administration, which will be only too relieved to see him move on.
The-cultured-swine39 on April 17th, 2026 at 23:10 UTC »
That’s the kind of crowd size Trump could only dream of having.