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.
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.
The crowd cheered when Leo emerged in his open-sided popemobile, with waves of young people running alongside him trying to keep up as he looped through the crowd. Some had spent the night on the ground, battling mosquitoes, to be in place for the late morning Mass, but said they were willing to make the sacrifice for the pope.
“I wanted to offer this effort to the pope, to show him that what he is doing and what he wants to accomplish should truly come to life,” said Alex Nzumo, who arrived at the Mass on crutches.
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.”
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“Be the first faces and hands that bring the bread of life to your neighbors, 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 instead look to the future with hope.
“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” he said. “Do not forget that your people are even richer than this land, for your treasure lies in your values: faith, family, hospitality and work.”
“Do not let yourselves be corrupted by temptations that waste your energies and do not serve the progress of society,” the pontiff said.
Later Friday back in the capital, Youande, Leo has an appointment with students, professors and administrators at the Catholic University of Central Africa.
With a population of 29 million, Cameroon is an overwhelmingly young country, where the median age is 18. Catholics represent about 29% of the population, and the country is a major source of growth and priestly vocations for the church.
Despite being an oil-producing country experiencing modest economic growth, young people say the benefits have not trickled down beyond the elites.
“Of course, when unemployment and social exclusion persist, frustration can lead to violence,” Leo warned in his opening address to Biya and government authorities earlier this week. “Investing in the education, training and entrepreneurship of young people is, therefore, a strategic choice for peace. It is the only way to curb the outflow of wonderful talent to other parts of the world.”
According to World Bank data, the unemployment rate in Cameroon stands at 3.5%, but 57% of the labor force ages 18 to 35 works in informal employment.
The dire economic outlook in Cameroon has led to significant brain drain and has strained an already understaffed health sector, as many doctors and nurses are leaving the country for more lucrative jobs in Europe and North America.
In 2023, about a third of doctors who graduated from medical school in Cameroon left the country, according to the Higher Education Ministry.
Growing frustration over Biya’s record and long-term rule intensified during October’s tense presidential election, in which he secured an eighth consecutive term.
When Cameroon’s main opposition candidate, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, contested the result of the poll, deadly protests erupted throughout the country. Human rights monitors said that dozens were killed.
