The Holy Father will stay in Cameroon one more night before traveling to Angola on April 18.
Pope Leo XIV holds a sculpture at Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV continued his papal trip in Africa on April 17, holding Mass in Japoma Stadium in Cameroon, visiting a Catholic hospital, and meeting with students at the Catholic University of Central Africa.
The Holy Father arrived in Cameroon on April 15 and will depart for Angola on April 18, eventually finishing his first papal trip to the continent in Equatorial Guinea.
Here’s a look at some of the pope’s ongoing activities in Cameroon:
Pope Leo XIV greets crowds in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets clergy and thousands of faithful at Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV presides at Mass in Japoma Stadium in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican MediaPope Leo XIV incenses a statue of the Blessed Mother at Japoma Stadium during Mass on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets religious sisters at St. Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV blesses a mother and child at St. Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV blesses a mother and child at St. Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV blesses a newborn at St. Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV blesses a child at St. Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV offers a blessing to a patient at St. Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV waves to crowds in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets crowds at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV greets a student at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV speaks to students and dignitaries at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Friday, April 17, 2026. | Credit: Vatican Media
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
Pope Francis speaks to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Paul Pelosi after Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, 2022. / Vatican Media
Vatican City, Jul 4, 2022 / 03:43 am (CNA).
Pope Francis condemned abortion in new comments about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
When asked whether a Catholic politician who supports the right to choose abortion can receive the sacrament of Communion, he warned of bishops losing their “pastoral nature.”
Speaking to Reuters over the weekend, the pope said he respected the ruling in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case, though he did not know enough to speak about the juridical aspects.
The interview, published July 4, said Francis compared abortion to “hiring a hit man.”
“I ask: Is it legitimate, is it right, to eliminate a human life to resolve a problem?” Pope Francis said.
He was also asked about the debate over whether Catholic politicians who promote legal abortion should be admitted to Holy Communion.
In May, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was barred from receiving Communion in her home diocese of San Francisco by Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone because of her advocacy of abortion.
Pelosi (D-Calif.) reportedly received Holy Communion at a Mass with Pope Francis at the Vatican on June 29. It is not clear if the pope was aware that Pelosi attended, though the Vatican issued a photo showing the two greeting each other in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Francis told Reuters: “When the Church loses its pastoral nature, when a bishop loses his pastoral nature, it causes a political problem. That’s all I can say.”
The 90-minute interview in Italian took place on July 2 in a reception room on the ground floor of the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse, where the pope lives.
In addition to the abortion topic, the interview covered the pope’s health, resignation rumors, and the possibility of trips to Kyiv and Moscow.
By 
Fine pictures of the faithful with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.