Violet Riquelme
At the Yaoundé airport, Pope Leo XIV presided over the final celebration of his visit to Cameroon before departing for Angola.
Before a crowd of nearly 20,000 faithful, Pope Leo arrived to traditional songs, accompanied by altar servers and priests, for a Mass dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, patroness of Cameroon.
After all Pope Leo experienced in Cameroon—such as the spontaneous embrace from a young child in the Bamenda orphanage, his visit to a hospital in Douala, and his meeting at the Catholic University of Yaoundé—the pope delivered this message:
POPE LEO XIV
Jesus is with us always, stronger than any power of evil. In every storm, he reaches us and says, “I am here with you, do not be afraid.” That is why we get up after every fall and do not let any storm stop us, but rather keep moving forward with courage and trust.
In a country marked by social tensions, inequality, and conflicts that directly affect daily life, Pope Leo also delivered a deeper message.
POPE LEO XIV
Individual, isolated efforts alone are not enough to save a community; a shared commitment is needed to bring the spiritual and ethical values of the Gospel into the heart of institutions and structures, turning them into instruments of the common good rather than places of conflict, self-interest, or futile struggles.
At the end of the Mass, gifts were exchanged, the faithful received their final blessing, and the Regina Caeli was sung before Cameroon’s patroness, Our Lady of the Apostles.
The Mass, celebrated with deep devotion, turned the Yaoundé airport into a vast open-air church for Pope Leo XIV’s farewell.
