The second leg of the Pope’s third apostolic journey, which is expected to take him to Angola, has concluded. A farewell ceremony was held at Yaoundé airport following a Mass attended by some 200,000 faithful.

On the flight to Luanda, Angola, the third leg of his apostolic journey, Leo XIV greeted the journalists who had accompanied him and thanked Cameroon for its extraordinary welcome: “I am happy to have had this experience.” The Pope also clarified that his speeches had been prepared weeks in advance and, therefore, should not be interpreted “as if I were trying to debate again with the President of the United States, something that has absolutely no interest for me.”

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Leo XIV

Good morning! Good morning everyone. Good afternoon. I hope you had a good time in Cameroon. And as you know, of course, we’re now on our way to Angola.

The visit to Cameroon was very significant because, in many ways, this country represents the heart of Africa, both English-speaking and French-speaking, with some 250 languages ​​and local ethnic groups. At the same time, it possesses great wealth and opportunities, but it also presents the challenge, found throughout Africa, of an often unequal distribution of wealth.

Personally, I was very happy. As you know, we began our trip to Algeria focusing on Saint Augustine, and yesterday, at the Catholic University, a beautiful monument was blessed. It had been prepared with a map of Africa and Saint Augustine at its center. And so, in a way, that expresses part of the meaning of this trip.

I come to Africa primarily as a pastor, as head of the Catholic Church, to be close to all Catholics throughout Africa, to celebrate with them, to encourage them and to accompany them.

However, of course, there are other dimensions to the visit. I had a very positive meeting with a group of imams in Cameroon to promote, and continue promoting, as we have already done in other places and as Pope Francis did during his pontificate, dialogue and fraternity through understanding, acceptance, and peacebuilding with people of all faiths.

At the same time, a version of events circulated that wasn’t entirely accurate, but this is due to the political situation created when, on the first day of the trip, the President of the United States made some comments about me. Much of what has been written since then has been a succession of comments on comments, in an attempt to interpret what was said. Just one small example: The speech I gave at the Prayer Meeting for Peace a couple of days ago was prepared two weeks ago, long before the President made any comments about me and the message of peace I am promoting. Yet it has been interpreted as if I were trying to counter the President again, which is not at all in my interest.

So we continue on our way, we continue proclaiming the message of the Gospel, and the Gospel text that we use for the liturgies offers a number of different, fantastic and wonderful aspects of what it means to be a Christian, what it means to follow Christ, what it means to promote fraternity, brotherhood, trust in the Lord, but also to seek ways to promote justice in our world, to promote peace in our world.

That said, I am very happy to greet you all and thank you for the work you are doing. I hope the Lord continues to bless us all on this journey. Thank you very much!

Cameroonian journalist

One word in French? Yes, thank you, thank you very much, Your Holiness. We wanted you to have only one word in French, as Cameroon is bilingual. I work for Cameroon’s national television.

Leo XIV

I simply want to thank everyone in Cameroon for the wonderful welcome, the great enthusiasm, and the joy of the people. It was incredible: the experience of a faith community that truly discovered, through shared enthusiasm, how wonderful it is to live what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ and to celebrate our faith together. And that enthusiasm was truly palpable in Cameroon. I am so happy to have had this experience and to have been with all your people these past few days.