Cameroon
Pope Leo XIV on Friday urged Cameroon’s young people to resist the temptation of corruption and instead work to serve the common good.
He celebrated mass at a stadium in the city of Douala attended by over a hundred thousand faithful, many of whom had slept there overnight so they could see him speak.
Addressing them in both French and English, Leo also told young people to reject every form of abuse or violence, and to always show hospitality and care for one another.
**“**Be the first faces and hands that bring the bread of life to your neighbours, 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.
He also 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, saying they must not be corrupted “by temptations that waste your energies and do not serve the progress of society”.
Later Friday, back in the capital, Youande, Leo has an appointment with students, professors and administrators at the Catholic University of Central Africa.
Popes have often used such encounters, especially in the developing world, to rally young people to persevere in the face of poverty, corruption, and other challenges.
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
The US-born pope, who has become outspoken on war and inequality blasting leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.
In the speech, Leo demanded the “chains of corruption” in Cameroon be broken and said the country’s youth represented hope for the future.
But with Biya in power since 1982, Cameroon perhaps represents the most dramatic example of the tension between Africa’s youth and the continent’s many aging leaders.
Despite being an oil-producing country experiencing modest economic growth, young people say the benefits have not trickled down beyond the elites.
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