Pope Leo, attacked again by Trump, decries world 'ravaged by tyrants'

YAOUNDE, Apr 16: Pope Leo on Wednesday urged Cameroon's government to root out corruption and resist "the whims of the rich and powerful", in a forceful speech given in the presence of President Paul Biya, who has led the country since 1982.

Leo, who was criticised by US President Donald Trump for a second time during his 10-day tour of four African countries, also called for an end to Cameroon's simmering Anglophone conflict, which has killed thousands.

"It is time to examine our conscience and take a bold leap forward," the first US pope told Biya, Prime Minister Joseph Dion Ngute and other leaders shortly after arriving in Cameroon from Algeria.

Pope Leo was travelling to the biggest city in Cameroon's conflict-hit anglophone region on Thursday, the latest stop on an ambitious four-country Africa tour amid attacks on the pontiff by US President Donald Trump.

Trump's attacks on Leo, who has emerged as a vocal critic of the Iran war, have caused dismay in Africa, where more than a fifth of the world's Catholics live.

Vice-President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, joined in on Tuesday, saying the pope was wrong to say that disciples of Christ were "never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs" and that "it's very, very important for the pope to be careful when he talks about matters of theology."

Leo told Reuters on Monday that he would not stop speaking out about the war and has avoided responding to Trump directly since then.

After arriving in the Cameroon capital Yaounde on Wednesday, he urged the government of the Central African nation - led by President Paul Biya, at 93 the world's oldest ruler - to root out corruption and resist "the whims of the rich and powerful".

 Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants", in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked him again on social media.    �"REUTERS