By Courtney Mares, OSV News
Pope Leo XIV dismissed the media narrative that has pitted him against President Donald Trump since the start of his 11-day apostolic trip to Africa, telling reporters aboard the papal flight to Angola on April 18 that «there has been a certain narrative that has not been accurate in all its aspects.».
«Because of the political situation that was created when, on the first day of the trip, the President of the United States made some comments about me, much of what has been written since then has been more commentary on commentary, trying to interpret what has been said,» the Pope said aboard the papal flight from Yaoundé , Cameroon, to Luanda, Angola.
«Just a small example: the speech I gave at the peace prayer meeting a couple of days ago I prepared two weeks ago, long before the president made any comments about me and the message of peace that I promote. And yet it was interpreted as if I was trying to debate, once again, with the president, which I am not interested in at all,» he said.
The Pope stressed to the approximately 65 journalists aboard the papal plane, among whom were major television networks and newspapers from around the world: «I come to Africa primarily as a pastor, as head of the Catholic Church, to be with all the Catholics of Africa, to celebrate with them, to encourage them and to accompany them«.
The North American vision
Leo XIV spoke out in response to the media firestorm unleashed in the United States with a «Trump v. Leo» narrative since the U.S. president lashed out at the Pope on social media and in verbal statements over the pontiff's opposition to the Iran war for several days beginning April 12.
Over the past six days, while the Pope was visiting Algeria and Cameroon, the story continued to evolve as Vice President JD Vance addressed a Turning Point USA event on April 14 at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, invoking «the 1,000+ year tradition of just war theory» to justify his opposition to the Pope's comments objecting to the Iran war.
As Pope Leo XIV presided over a peace meeting in Bamenda, Cameroon, a city ravaged by violence in a conflict between separatists and government forces since 2017, some media outlets ran headlines implying that Pope Leo XIV's comments to the long-suffering Cameroonian community were directed at Trump.
The major media
As reported by Reuters on the Pope's peace rally, «Pope Leo XIV lashed out at leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world is being ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants,’ in unusually blunt remarks in Cameroon on Thursday, days after U.S. President Donald Trump attacked him on social media.».
The New York Times ran the following headline about the same peace meeting on April 16: «‘Woe to those who manipulate religion,’ Pope says amid clash with Trump.».
The article stated, «Amid a growing dispute with the Trump administration over the legitimacy of U.S. strikes in Iran, Leo used a speech Thursday in Cameroon to express ‘Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging the sacred into darkness and filth.'».
The Pope clarified to reporters aboard the papal plane that his speeches were written two weeks earlier, long before Trump's comments.
The Pope made these harsh statements about tyrants and the manipulation of religion in a speech delivered in the heart of a conflict zone in Bamenda, Cameroon, where he sought to draw the world's attention to the Anglophone crisis, which was described by one of the local participants in the peace meeting as «one of the forgotten crises on planet Earth.».
In his remarks on board the plane, the Pope tried to refocus attention on the Cameroonian people.
«The visit to Cameroon was very significant because, in many ways, it represents the heart of Africa,» he said. «It is an English- and French-speaking country, with about 250 local languages and ethnicities. At the same time, it has great wealth and great opportunities, but also the difficulty that we find throughout Africa: a very unequal distribution of wealth.».
«We go forward, we continue to proclaim the message of the Gospel. The Gospel texts that we have used in the liturgies offer a number of fantastic and beautiful aspects of what it means to be a Christian, of what it means to follow Christ, of what it means to promote fraternity, trusting in the Lord, but also seeking ways to promote justice and peace in our world,» the Pope added.
Before leaving for Angola, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass in the capital of Cameroon before some 200,000 people, according to local authorities, at the Yaoundé air base. .
«Jesus is always with us, stronger than any power of evil,» the Pope told a jubilant crowd of Cameroonian Catholics .
In his homily, the Pope reflected on the Gospel account of Jesus walking on the water, saying, «In every storm, (Jesus) comes to us and repeats, ‘I am here with you: do not be afraid.'».
«Jesus draws near to us. He does not calm the storm immediately, but comes to us in the midst of danger and invites us, in our joys and sorrows, to remain with him, like the disciples, in the same boat. He invites us not to turn away from those who suffer, but to draw near to them, to embrace them,» the Pope said in French.
The lively Mass ended the Pope's trip to Cameroon, April 15-18, where he visited three cities: Yaoundé, Bamenda and Douala. The second part of his 11-day African tour will take Pope Leo XIV to Angola and Equatorial Guinea before returning to the Vatican on April 23.
«Let us keep alive in our hearts the memory of the beautiful moments we have lived together,» Pope Leo XIV said at the end of his homily. «Even in the midst of difficulties, let us continue to make room for Jesus, allowing him to enlighten and renew us each day with his presence. The Church in Cameroon is alive, young, blessed with gifts and enthusiasm, energetic in its diversity and magnificent in its harmony. With the help of the Virgin Mary, our Mother, may your joyful presence continue to flourish».
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