Sawt Falasteen - Pope heads to Cameroon conflict zone with message of peace

After urging Cameroon's leaders to examine their "conscience" and tackle corruption and rights abuses on Wednesday, the pope undertakes a symbolic trip to a conflict zone where English-speaking separatists are fighting the regular army.

With Leo's landmark African tour marred by US President Donald Trump's personal attacks against him, his speech and mass in the western city of Bamenda, epicentre of the insurgency, has been keenly anticipated by locals hoping for an end to the fighting.

"We believe that his coming here, especially for the North-West and South-West regions, will bring peace," Juliette Lum, a Bamenda resident who said she would attend the mass, told AFP.

The conflict in the two western English-speaking regions erupted in early 2017 after authorities suppressed protests the previous year against the French-speaking majority's tightening grip.

The crackdown led to conflict between the army and English-speaking insurgents that rights groups say had killed more than 6,000 people by 2024.

Separatist fighters declared a Republic of Ambazonia in the two regions, which account for around a fifth of the population.

On Monday, separatist groups announced a three-day truce for the pontiff's arrival.

The separatists also have high hopes for the visit.

The Unity Warriors of Ambazonia told AFP it hoped Leo would press the government to restart talks "where the origins of the conflict could be discussed".

Bamenda airport, which has been shut since 2019 due to the violence, has been renovated for the pope's visit and is due to remain open.

"I can’t say that his visit will necessarily change anything about the crisis, but we hope it will at least have a positive influence," 22-year-old student Lobga Wesley said.

- Dialogue -

Singing crowds greeted the US-born pontiff on arrival in the central African country on Wednesday, despite the fears of some Cameroonian Catholics that the visit could help longtime President Paul Biya burnish his image.

Leo's trip, the fourth to Cameroon by a pope and the first since Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, comes six months after the authorities violently put down protests against the 93-year-old leader's disputed re-election for an eighth term.

Speaking alongside Biya -- the world's oldest head of state -- Leo on Wednesday called for an end to the separatist conflict and urged Cameroon's leaders to root out abuses carried out in the name of order.

"Security is a priority, but it must always be exercised with respect for human rights," he said in an uncharacteristically pointed speech at the presidential palace attended by Biya..

"This is the first time since the beginning of the conflict that everyone is speaking the same language: everyone is welcoming the Holy Father," Archbishop of Bamenda Andrew Fuanya Nkea said.

In a country where more than a third of the approximately 30 million people are Catholic, the Church plays a key mediation role and runs a large network of hospitals, schools and charities.

After the Bamenda trip, Leo is hold a mass at a stadium in the economic capital Douala on Friday, before leaving Cameroon for Angola on Saturday.

Leo's first major international tour had risked being overshadowed by Trump's comments that he was "not a big fan" of the pope who has called for peace in the Middle East.

US Vice President JD Vance -- a Catholic -- weighed in, urging the Vatican to "stick to matters of morality".

Leo has brushed the jibes aside.

"I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration, nor speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel," he told reporters aboard the papal plane on Monday.

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R.Halabi--SF-PST