Context is important; the pope was visiting a war-torn country when he made the speech on war that reverberated around the Middle East and Washington DC. Pope Leo was visiting Bamenda, a city in Cameroon’s north-west region, which is at the centre of a decade-long conflict known as the ‘Anglophone Crisis’, presumably about which would be the local language.
Vatican News noted, “Since 2016, rebel groups belonging to Cameroon’s English-speaking minority have been fighting government forces in the region, in an attempt to create a separate state in the North-west and South-west of the country.”
The speech begins with the Pope responding to local Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, who had quoted Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace!” because the context was an interreligious peace gathering where Christians and Muslims had worked together to combat the violence in Cameroon, according to the conservative Catholic News site EWTN,
The speech
And now I would like to respond. How beautiful you are for your welcome because it is true. I am here to proclaim peace. Yet I find it is you who are proclaiming peace to me and to the entire world. As one of you observed, the crisis impacting these regions of Cameroon has brought Christian and Muslim communities closer than ever before. Indeed, your religious leaders have come together to establish a movement for peace through which they seek to mediate between the opposing sides. I wish this would happen in so many other places of the world. Your witness, your work for peace, can be a model for the whole world.
Jesus told us blessed are the peacemakers, but woe to those who manipulate religion in the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. Yes, my dear sisters and brothers, you who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor, merciful, meek, and pure of heart, you who have wept. You are the light of the world. Bamenda, today you are the city on the hill, resplendent in the eyes of all. Sisters and brothers, be the salt that continuously gives flavour to this land. Do not lose your flavour. Even in the years to come, cherish all the shared moments that have brought you together in these times of sorrow. Let us all cherish this day when we have come together to work for peace. Be like oil poured out upon the wounds of your brothers and sisters.
In this regard, I would like to express gratitude to all those, particularly the lay and religious women who care for individuals traumatised by violence. It is an enormous task that goes unseen day by day. And as Sister Karine reminded us, it is also dangerous. The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy. Yet often a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing, on devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education, and restoration are nowhere to be found. Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle denounced and rejected by those making a decisive change, of course.
It will lead us in the opposite direction onto a sustainable path, rich in human fraternity. The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants. It is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters. They are the descendants of Abraham, as numerous as the stars in the sky, the grains of sand and the seashore. Let us look into each other’s eyes. We are this immense people. Peace is not something we must invent. It is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbour as our brother and as our sister. We do not choose our brothers and sisters. We simply must accept one another. We are one family inhabiting the same home, this wonderful planet that ancient cultures have cared for over millennia.
Pope Francis’ insight in the apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, came to mind as I listened to your words. He wrote, “My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off. It is not something extra or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot for my being without destroying my very self. I am a mission on this earth. That is the reason why I am here in this world. Dear brothers and sisters of Bamenda, it is with these sentiments that I am here today among you. Let us serve peace together. We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing, and freeing. All around us, we begin to see nurses with soul, teachers with soul, politicians with soul, people who have chosen deep down to be with others and for others.
Thus, my beloved predecessor exhorted us to walk together. Each of us, according to our own vocation, stretching the boundaries of our communities, beginning with concrete efforts on the local level, in order to love our neighbour, whomever and wherever he or she may be. You are witnesses to this silent revolution. As the Imam said, let us thank God that this crisis has not degenerated into a religious war and that we are all still trying to love one another. Let us move forward courageously without losing heart. And above all, together, always together. Let us walk together in love, searching always for peace. Thank you.
Image: Pope Leo receives gifts in Bamenda, Cameroon. Image credit: Vatican Media