Pope Leo visits Cameroon in central Africa and addresses corruption in speech
發佈日期: 2026-04-16 21:11
TVB News
Pope Leo XIV has arrived in the central African nation of Cameroon where he delivered a masterclass on wielding authority legitimately to President Paul Biya, who consolidated his four-decade grip on power with a contested election last year that gave him an eighth term in office.
On arriving in Cameroon, the Pope was greeted by the country's Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute. People lined the streets waving as the Pope's motorcade went by on its way to the Presidential Palace where Cameroon's President Paul Biya greeted him.
The Vatican had said that fighting corruption in the mineral-rich central African country would be one of the themes of Leo's visit and the American pope did not hold back in addressing Biya and government authorities in his arrival address at the presidential palace.
He said "in order for peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption - which disfigure authority and strip it of its credibility - must be broken. Hearts must be set free from an idolatrous thirst for profit: true profit comes from integral human development, that is, the balanced growth of all the aspects that make life on this Earth a blessing.
On the first day of his trip, Pope Leo visited a children's orphanage.
Leo has two major events in Cameroon, with the highlight a 'peace meeting' on Thursday in the country's northwest city of Bamenda which has been plagued by separatist violence.
English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017 with the stated goal of breaking away from Cameroon's French-speaking majority and establishing an independent state.
The conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000 others according to think tank, the International Crisis Group.
On the eve of the Pope's arrival, the English-speaking separatists announced a three-day pause in fighting to allow safe travel for his visit.
