BAMENDA, Cameroon (OSV News) ─ Separatist factions operating in Cameroon's Anglophone regions announced a temporary cessation of hostilities ahead of Pope Leo XIV's stop in Cameroon on the second leg of his papal visit to the African continent.
After a historical first papal visit to Algeria April 13-15, Pope Leo arrived in Cameroon's capital, Yaoundé, on April 15, landing shortly after 3 p.m. local time. It's the country's western separatist region, Bamenda, that will mark a pivotal point of the visit and a place where the pope will hold a meeting for peace.
Late on April 13, Anglophone separatists announced a period of "safe travel passage" and halted fighting ahead of Pope Leo's visit to the country. The Unity Alliance said the move was announced in recognition of the "profound spiritual importance" of the papal visit, and the need to safeguard civilian life.
Leaders of several armed and secessionist groups confirmed that they would facilitate the movement of those wanting to participate in papal celebrations in a spirit of "responsibility, restraint and respect for human dignity."
"The Bamenda ecclesiastical province has gone through a lot of suffering for the past nine years," Archbishop Andrew Nkea told OSV News.
The province shares a border with the troubled English-speaking northwest and southwest regions.
The two regions erupted in crisis in 2016. It all started with strikes by teachers and lawyers in both regions who were protesting the use of French in Anglo-Saxon schools and courts.
The government responded with lethal force. This resulted in the growth of a separatist fringe that took up arms against the state in an effort to secede from the rest of the country and create a new nation called Ambazonia.
Ten years of fighting have left 6,500 people dead and displaced over 500,000. According to the U.N., 1.8 million of the Anglophone regions' 4 million people need humanitarian support, while about 250,000 children are affected by school closures because of the conflict.
Archbishop Nkea told OSV News the pope chose to "pay a visit to the suffering people of the northwest and southwest regions."
"We're expecting the Holy Father to speak to us about reconciliation. We're expecting the Holy Father to talk to us about loving one another. We're expecting the Holy Father to speak to us about justice among our peoples," he explained.
The archbishop emphasized that while the pope is a pastor, he can offer "humble suggestions" on how Cameroon could resolve the crisis.
Unity Alliance said that while the pope's visit should remain "spiritual" and "pastoral," the decision to pause the fighting "reflects a deliberate commitment to responsibility, restraint, and respect for human dignity, even in the context of ongoing conflict."
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Ngala Killian Chimtom contributed to this report from Bamenda, Cameroon.
