Pope Leo XIV Condemns Tyrants Spending Billions on Wars Amid Dispute With Donald Trump in Cameroon

Pope Leo XIV delivered unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday, condemning leaders who spend billions on wars and saying the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” amid a public dispute with U.S. President Donald Trump.

“Pope Leo XIV has blasted the “handful of tyrants” who are ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, as he preached a message of peace in the epicentre of a separatist conflict considered one of the world’s most neglected crises”

Al Jazeera

In a speech in St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the Cameroonian city of Bamenda, the pope said, “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,” and he added, “Blessed are the peacemakers!” while also warning, “But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”

Al Jazeera

Reuters reported that Leo urged a “decisive change of course” in the biggest city in Cameroon's English-speaking regions, where a simmering conflict going back nearly a decade has left thousands dead.

The remarks were framed by multiple outlets as coming “days after US President Donald Trump attacked him again on social media,” with the Washington Post describing the pope’s appeal as condemning “a handful of tyrants” who are “ravaging the world.”

The BBC similarly said the pope criticized leaders who “turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found.”

In the same set of comments, the pope also condemned what he called “an endless cycle of destabilisation and death,” and he told those gathered in Bamenda that “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.”

The pope’s Cameroon remarks were delivered against the backdrop of a growing public dispute with Donald Trump over the ongoing war in Iran, with outlets describing the clash as increasingly personal and tied to the pope’s opposition to the U.S. and Israeli-led war.

NPR said the comments came “amid a growing public dispute with President Trump over the ongoing war in Iran,” and it reported that the pope’s calls for peace had drawn “sharp criticism from the White House.”

Al-Ayyam Nyuz

NPR also described Trump’s attacks as including a post in which he shared an “AI-generated image of himself as Christ, which he later deleted,” and it said JD Vance told Pope Leo to “stay out of politics” and concentrate solely on “matters of morality.”

The BBC described the pope’s remarks as coming “just days after a high-profile spat with US President Donald Trump,” and it said Trump had posted a lengthy attack on the pope after the pope voiced concern about Trump’s threat that “a whole civilisation will die” if Iran did not agree to U.S. demands to end the war and open the Strait of Hormuz.

The BBC also said the pope had previously questioned the Trump administration's approach to immigration, and it noted that Trump wrote, “Leo should get his act together as Pope.”

In the same reporting, the BBC tied the pope’s stance to earlier moments such as a Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter's Square where the pope said the conflict between Iran, Israel and the US was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not be used to justify war, quoting, “This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war.”

Multiple outlets presented distinct voices around the pope’s remarks, with Pope Leo XIV speaking in Cameroon and U.S. political figures responding from Washington.

In his address, Leo said, “The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” and he added, “yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!” while also warning, “But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain.”

NPR reported that Trump attacked the pope as “weak on crime and soft on foreign policy,” and it said Trump suggested that Leo should focus on religious matters rather than politics.

NPR also said Trump shared an AI-generated image of himself as Christ, which he later deleted, and it quoted JD Vance telling Leo to “stay out of politics” and concentrate solely on “matters of morality.”

The BBC similarly described Trump’s social media attack, quoting that Trump called the pope “WEAK on Crime and terrible for Foreign Policy,” and it said Trump portrayed himself as a Jesus-like figure.

In response to Trump’s criticism, the pope told reporters at the start of his Africa tour that he did not want to get into a debate with Trump but would continue to promote peace, and the BBC quoted the pope saying, “I don't want to get into a debate with him.”

While the core message of “tyrants” and war spending was consistent across outlets, the reporting diverged on how the pope’s remarks were situated and what additional details were emphasized.

Reuters and the U.S. News & World Report version of Reuters both described the pope’s comments as coming “in Cameroon on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked him again on social media,” and they emphasized the pope’s urging of a “decisive change of course” in Bamenda.

Al-Monitor

The BBC, by contrast, foregrounded the pope’s remarks as “just days after a high-profile spat” and stressed that the pope had told reporters he did not want to get into a debate with Trump while continuing to promote peace.

NPR provided a more explicit framing of the pope’s remarks as part of “tensions with Trump” and tied them directly to the “ongoing war in Iran,” while also quoting Trump’s “AI-generated image of himself as Christ, which he later deleted” and JD Vance’s “stay out of politics” line.

The South China Morning Post described the remarks as “unusually forceful” and said they followed Trump’s attacks “again on social media” after the pope’s “ambitious four-country tour of Africa,” adding that Leo is “the first US pope” and that he had kept a “relatively low profile” for most of his first year.

The KSN/AP-style report added a different emphasis by describing the peace meeting in the St. Joseph Cathedral as involving “a Mankon traditional chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam and a Catholic nun,” and it quoted Leo’s “Bamenda, today you are the city on the hill, resplendent in the eyes of all!” in English.

The outlets also described stakes and immediate next steps around the pope’s trip, including planned Masses, peace meetings, and the broader Vatican-Washington divide.

“Pope Leo XIV: The world is being destroyed at the hands of a 'handful of tyrants”

Anadolu Ajansi

Reuters said the pope was in Cameroon for a meeting in Bamenda, and it described the setting as part of a four-country Africa tour, with the conflict in the English-speaking regions having “left thousands dead” over nearly a decade.

Anadolu Ajansi

Al Jazeera reported that the pope’s comments came days after Trump attacked him again on social media, and it said the pope was “set to celebrate a mass for the people of Bamenda” later on Thursday before returning to the capital, Yaounde.

KSN/AP reported that Leo traveled to Bamenda where “jubilant crowds clogged the roads,” and it said the peace meeting aimed to highlight an interfaith movement seeking to end the conflict and care for victims, while also noting that it “wasn’t immediately clear if any of Cameroon’s separatist fighters” attended.

The KSN/AP report also provided a timeline of the conflict’s roots, saying English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion in 2017, and it stated that the conflict has “killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000 others,” citing the International Crisis Group.

Al Jazeera added that separatist fighters had announced a “pause in the fighting” and that a spokesperson for the Unity Alliance, Lucas Asu, said the pause “reflects a deliberate commitment to responsibility, restraint, and respect for human dignity.”