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Speaking during a visit to Cameroon, the pontiff said some leaders had manipulated “the very name of God” for political and military gain.
Pope Leo speaking to the media on the US-Israeli war on Iran. (Reuters)
Pope Leo delivered one of his strongest condemnations of global conflict since taking office, criticising leaders who spend billions on war while neglecting healing and education, and warning that the world is being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.
Speaking during a visit to Cameroon, the pontiff said some leaders had manipulated “the very name of God” for political and military gain. The remarks came days after a public clash with US President Donald Trump.
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Pope Condemns Spending On War
Addressing worshippers in the north-western Cameroonian city of Bamenda, Pope Leo criticised governments that prioritise weapons over recovery.
“Billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found,” he said, adding, “The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet often a lifetime is not enough to rebuild.”
The Pope added that the world was suffering under “a handful of tyrants”, in comments seen as an unusually direct rebuke of global leaders.
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Visit To Conflict-Hit Cameroon
Pope Leo’s comments came during a tour of a region scarred by nearly a decade of separatist violence. Cameroon’s two Anglophone regions have faced an insurgency since 2017, with separatist groups battling the predominantly Francophone government. The conflict has killed at least 6,000 people and displaced many more.
Speaking in Bamenda, the centre of the unrest, the Pope described the area as “bloodstained”. He said, “Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilisation and death. Peace is not something we must invent: it is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbour as a brother and as our sister.”
Fresh Rift With Trump
The speech comes shortly after Pope Leo’s high-profile dispute with Trump. The Pope had criticised threats that “a whole civilisation will die” if Iran failed to meet US demands to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump responded with a lengthy social media attack, saying, “Leo should get his act together as Pope.” The US president later escalated his criticism, calling the pontiff “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy” before deleting an AI-generated image portraying himself in Jesus-like imagery.
Washington D.C., United States of America (USA)
April 16, 2026, 7:59 PM IST
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