In Douala Leo said that everyone can have bread if it is taken with a hand that gives rather than snatches away
Leo XIV spoke at the Japoma Stadium in Cameroon's economic capital, before a crowd of 120,000. He urged young people to "Reject every form of abuse or violence”, calling on them to be the first to bring "the bread of life” to others. Sharing is the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. Proclaiming Jesus means "leaving signs of justice in a suffering and oppressed land.”
Douala (AsiaNews) – In the second leg of his apostolic journey to Africa, Pope Leo XIV flew from Cameroon’s political capital, Yaoundé, to Douala, its vibrant and lively economic capital, whose port handles most of the country’s exports like oil, cocoa, and coffee.
At 11:00 am, the pontiff led the Mass at Japoma Stadium, before a crowd of 120,000 people, urging the “beloved children of the African continent”, the country’s young people, society’s tireless driving force, to “Be the first faces and hands that bring the bread of life to your neighbors, providing them with the food of wisdom and deliverance from all that does not nourish them, but rather obscures good desires and robs them of their dignity.”
In his homily, Leo XIV spoke about the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes from today’s liturgy (Jn 6:1-15), noting that, “for the Church,” the Gospel “resounds as a providential proclamation of God’s love”.
Christianity represents the largest piece in the religious mosaic of this young Central African country where the median age of the population is around 18.
Jesus found himself with "very little food" in front of many people. Likewise, conscious of this “disproportion”, He asks today’s humanity to “Look at all these hungry people, weighed down by fatigue. What will you do?” Leo said in a question addressed to "each one of us," without distinction.
“Christ asks this question to the powerful and the weak, to the rich and the poor, to the young and the elderly, because we all hunger in the same way,” the pontiff said.
“A serious problem was solved,” he added, “by blessing the little food that was present and sharing it with all who were hungry. The multiplication of the loaves and the fishes happened while sharing: that is the miracle! There is bread for everyone if it is given to everyone. There is bread for everyone if it is taken, not with a hand that snatches away, but with a hand that gives”.
Speaking again directly to young people, Leo spoke about the widespread “material and spiritual” poverty of so many people in the country, made heavier by the dark shadow cast by decades of conflict, the "Anglophone crisis”, in Bamenda and the Southwest region.
“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement. Reject every form of abuse or violence, which deceives by promising easy gains but hardens the heart and makes it insensitive,” the pope said.
Wealth, Leo stressed, belongs to the people, who “are even richer than this land, for your treasure lies in your values: faith, family, hospitality and work.”
“Be, therefore, protagonists of the future, following the vocation that God gives to each of you. Do not let yourselves be corrupted by temptations that waste your energies and do not serve the progress of society.”
The first Christians in the Acts of the Apostles exemplified this; they bore “courageous witness to the Lord Jesus in the face of difficulties and threats, and persevered even amid persecution”.
“Become Good News for your country, just like Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui (1981-2007) is for the Congolese people,” the pontiff said. Blessed since last year, the 26-year-old was assassinated for refusing to pay a bribe, for standing up against corruption.
“Proclaiming the risen Jesus means leaving signs of justice in a suffering and oppressed land, signs of peace amid rivalry and corruption, signs of faith that free us from superstition and indifference,” the pontiff said.
In his homily, Leo stressed that Jesus came “to serve with love, not to dominate.” Indeed, the miracle of the multiplication “shows us not only how God provides humanity with the bread of life, but [also] how we can share this sustenance with all men and women who, like ourselves, hunger for peace, freedom and justice.”
Amid the excitement in Douala’s Japoma Stadium, the pope urged young people to “Be the first” to take this kind of action.
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