Cameroon

While the pope is a pastor, he can offer “humble suggestions” on how Cameroon could resolve the crisis, Bamenda’s Archbishop Andrew Nkea said.

ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT TO YAOUNDE, Cameroon (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV spoke to journalists aboard the papal plane on April 15 on the five-hour flight from Algeria to …

Archbishop Nkea highlighted a rare sense of shared expectation across divisions, with diaspora communities, political figures and even separatist fighters.

“It’s important for us to get the message out that Western Christianity is fundamentally African, in the way that Eastern Christianity is fundamentally Greek.”

A Vatican spokesman described the ambitious trip as “one of the longest stretches of time that the pope has been outside the Vatican.”

Pope Leo is to celebrate eight public Masses and deliver 11 speeches, while also meeting political leaders, Catholic communities, students and missionaries.

Algeria is a country with a small Christian community, but one that is “joyful in living fraternally with all the people of this country.”

The Vatican said peace and care for the poor will be central themes of the African journey, which will also bring him in the footsteps of St. Augustine.

Security concerns, political tensions and moral objections raised questions about whether the country is ready for a papal visit.

Reeling from the Nov. 21 kidnapping of more than 250 kids and teachers from a Catholic school in central Nigeria, Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora said trauma, helplessness and …