{"id":3232,"date":"2026-04-18T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-18T09:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232"},"modified":"2026-04-18T02:59:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-18T02:59:56","slug":"pope-lashes-out-at-foreigners-who-exploit-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232","title":{"rendered":"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit region of Cameroon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is one of several forthright remarks he has made over the last day,&nbsp;including blasting those who spend billions on wars&nbsp;and telling Cameroon&#8217;s government to root out corruption for peace to prevail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tems - Love Me JeJe (Official Video)\" width=\"980\" height=\"551\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Y_NTooezadU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>He has spent the day in Bamenda, a city at the centre of Cameroon&#8217;s brutal and long-running separatist rebellion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Internal problems were exacerbated by outsiders who &#8220;in the name of profit, continue to lay their hands on the African continent to exploit and plunder it&#8221;, he told an estimated 20,000 worshippers at a Mass at Bamenda Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier, joyful crowds sang, drummed and waved flags to welcome the leader of the Catholic Church, who arrived under military escort in a bullet-proof white vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ahead of his visit,&nbsp;Anglophone separatists had announced a period of &#8220;safe travel passage&#8221;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pope&#8217;s first stop was at a peace meeting in Bamenda held at Saint Joseph&#8217;s Cathedral about the nearly 10-year insurgency in Cameroon&#8217;s two English-speaking regions that has left at least 6,000 people dead and many more forced from their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;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,&#8221; said the 70-year-old Pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2017, those seeking to create a breakaway state in Cameroon&#8217;s Anglophone region have been fighting government forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They are angered by what they see as the marginalisation of Cameroon&#8217;s English-speaking minority by the Francophone-dominated government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Religious leaders and victims of the Anglophone conflict took turns to share the impact of the fighting with the Pope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Muslim leader decried the killing of members of the Mbororo indigenous community, looting of cattle and other items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A nun revealed details of her kidnap by separatist fighters, highlighting the severity of the conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another man shared how he was forced to flee his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Pope commended their work and said it was a model for the whole world: &#8220;Let us thank God that this crisis has not degenerated into a religious war.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Commentators say the Pope has been unusually blunt in his speeches in Cameroon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Wednesday at the presidential palace in the capital, Yaound\u00e9, he gave pointed advice to the government during at address also attended by President Paul Biya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;In order for peace and justice to prevail, the chains of corruption &#8211; which disfigure authority and strip it of its credibility &#8211; must be broken,&#8221; he said. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/c5yj796plqmo\">(BBC)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit region of Cameroon. It is one of several forthright remarks he has made over the last day,&nbsp;including blasting those who spend billions on wars&nbsp;and telling Cameroon&#8217;s government to root out corruption for peace to prevail. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[1047,3392,1978,691,2210],"class_list":["post-3232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-foreign","tag-africa","tag-bamenda","tag-cameroon","tag-foreigners","tag-pope-leo-xiv"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa - Tona Today<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit r\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa - Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit r\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tona Today\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-18T09:33:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Tona.Today\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\"},\"headline\":\"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-18T09:33:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232\"},\"wordCount\":451,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa\",\"Bamenda\",\"Cameroon\",\"foreigners\",\"Pope Leo XIV\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Foreign\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232\",\"name\":\"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa - Tona Today\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-18T09:33:00+00:00\",\"description\":\"Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit r\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/11\\\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg\",\"width\":650,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?p=3232#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Tona Today\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":117,\"caption\":\"Tona Today\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477\",\"name\":\"Tona.Today\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Tona.Today\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/tona.today\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa - Tona Today","description":"Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit r","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa - Tona Today","og_description":"Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit r","og_url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232","og_site_name":"Tona Today","article_published_time":"2026-04-18T09:33:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":650,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Tona.Today","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Tona.Today","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232"},"author":{"name":"Tona.Today","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477"},"headline":"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa","datePublished":"2026-04-18T09:33:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232"},"wordCount":451,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg","keywords":["Africa","Bamenda","Cameroon","foreigners","Pope Leo XIV"],"articleSection":["Foreign"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232","name":"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa - Tona Today","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-18T09:33:00+00:00","description":"Pope Leo XIV has criticised foreigners who exploit the wealth of Africa for profit during his visit to a conflict-hit r","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Pope-Leo-XIV.jpg","width":650,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?p=3232#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tona.today\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pope lashes out at foreigners who exploit Africa"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","name":"Tona Today","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#organization","name":"Tona Today","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tona.today\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/cropped-cropped-Your-paragraph-text-1.jpg","width":500,"height":117,"caption":"Tona Today"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tona.today\/#\/schema\/person\/76420356652545dc8fd331a11f052477","name":"Tona.Today","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/caa7d2f1284ad52494d77a04b46fce0d6bf1fe423c5ef2a52e1d3c44ff2fad10?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Tona.Today"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tona.today"],"url":"https:\/\/tona.today\/?author=2"}]}},"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3232"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3236,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions\/3236"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tona.today\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}