{"id":30121,"date":"2026-04-17T15:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/?p=30121"},"modified":"2026-04-17T15:47:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T22:47:43","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-in-bamenda-calling-for-hope-and-interfaith-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/2026\/04\/17\/pope-leo-xiv-in-bamenda-calling-for-hope-and-interfaith-cooperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV in Bamenda, Calling for Hope and Interfaith Cooperation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: Vatican Media<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(ANS \u2013 Bamenda)<\/em> <\/strong>\u2013 After leaving Yaound\u00e9, Pope Leo XIV traveled to Bamenda, also in Cameroon, where he was welcomed by a large and jubilant crowd. This northwestern region has long been marked by tensions and violence\u2014a crisis largely forgotten by the world\u2014which over the past decade has resulted in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Yet the faithful celebrated the Pontiff\u2019s arrival with songs, dances, lively music, and banners hailing Leo as a \u201cmessenger of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was peace that the Pope spoke about during the gathering at St. Joseph\u2019s Cathedral\u2014a deeply moving moment marked by music and, above all, the enthusiasm of the faithful, many still amazed that Leo XIV chose Bamenda as a stop on his journey through Cameroon. The turnout was overwhelming. Seated in brightly colored sections were all parts of a society marked by poverty and destruction: representatives of Protestant communities, members of the Islamic faith, priests, religious, catechists, and the faithful from different linguistic groups. They listened in an atmosphere of brotherhood, strengthened by the truce declared by separatist groups during the Pope\u2019s visit. It was a tangible sign of the need and desire for words of consolation and peace in what Leo described as a \u201ctroubled region\u201d\u2014a community burdened by suffering but never abandoned by God, and capable of beginning anew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Blessed Are the Peacemakers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persecution and suffering make no distinction between faiths, races, languages, or cultures; all are affected and in need of psychological and spiritual healing. This was evident in the testimonies presented to the Pope, who praised the work of the Peace Movement led by Christian and Muslim communities seeking to mediate between opposing sides. Despite attempts to exploit religion, they continue to carry a message of peace to the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlessed are the peacemakers! Woe, however, to those who manipulate religions and the very name of God for military, economic, or political gain, dragging what is sacred into the darkest depths. Yes, dear brothers and sisters\u2014you who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor, merciful, meek, and pure of heart, you who have wept\u2014you are the light of the world!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Warlords<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mission to be \u201coil poured upon human wounds\u201d is entrusted, Leo XIV said, especially to the poor, urging them never to lose their identity but to remain \u201cthe salt that gives flavor to the earth,\u201d treasuring what has been shared \u201cin times of sorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also spoke of the \u201cimmense task\u201d of supporting victims of violence, addressing in particular women\u2014both lay and religious\u2014who carry out this work of accompaniment despite the risks, in a land where \u201cthe lords of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey pretend not to see that billions of dollars are spent to kill and devastate, while the resources needed to heal, educate, and rebuild cannot be found. Those who exploit your land\u2019s resources often invest much of the profit in weapons, fueling a spiral of instability and endless death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Call for Unity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of Bamenda, wounded but hopeful, looks to the Pope as a voice calling for an end to the conflict and a return to lasting peace. Leo XIV emphasized the need for a change of direction: this is the moment for a \u201cU-turn,\u201d an opportunity for \u201cevery honest conscience\u201d to denounce and reject violence, choosing instead the path of sustainability and human fraternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He called for unity, urging people to look one another in the eye with the awareness that they are \u201cimmense\u201d in the face of a world \u201cdestroyed by a few rulers\u201d but sustained \u201cby countless brothers and sisters in solidarity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeace is not something to be invented,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is something to be embraced\u2014by accepting our neighbor as a brother and sister. No one chooses their brothers and sisters; we must simply accept one another. We are one family, living in the same home\u2014this wonderful planet, cared for by ancient cultures over millennia.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Silent Revolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he departed Bamenda, Pope Leo XIV entrusted its people with the task of reconciliation, encouraging them to serve peace together, \u201ceach according to their own vocation.\u201d The communities, who see in him a messenger of reconciliation and promoter of justice, have long borne witness to a \u201csilent revolution\u201d\u2014one that, despite immense challenges, has so far prevented the crisis from escalating into full-scale war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Flight of the Doves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the courtyard of St. Joseph\u2019s Cathedral, at the conclusion of the peace gathering, the Pope reaffirmed: \u201cThe Lord has chosen us all to be workers of peace in this land!\u201d He then invited everyone to pray: \u201cAs we release these white doves, symbols of peace, may God\u2019s peace descend upon us all, upon this land, and keep us united in His peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: Vatican News<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: Vatican Media (ANS \u2013 Bamenda) \u2013 After leaving Yaound\u00e9, Pope Leo XIV traveled to Bamenda, also in Cameroon, where he was welcomed by a large and jubilant crowd. This northwestern region has long been marked by tensions and violence\u2014a crisis largely forgotten by the world\u2014which over the past decade has resulted in thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. Yet the … Continuar leyendo Pope Leo XIV in Bamenda, Calling for Hope and Interfaith Cooperation<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":30139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[299562,516714022],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-father","category-salesian-world-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/2026-04-17-Pope-Leo-XIV-Bamenda-feature.jpg?fit=1600%2C875&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-7PP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30121"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30141,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30121\/revisions\/30141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}