Dear sisters and brothers,

It is a joy for me to be with you in this region that has suffered so greatly. As your testimonies have just demonstrated, the lived experience of suffering by your community has only made stronger your conviction that God has never abandoned us! In God, in his peace, we can always begin anew!

His Excellency the Archbishop mentioned the prophecy that exclaims: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace!” (Is 52:7). He welcomed me with these words, and now I would like to respond: how beautiful are your feet as well, dusty from this bloodstained yet fertile land that has been mistreated, yet is rich in vegetation and fruit. Your feet have brought you this far, and despite the difficulties and obstacles, they have remained on the path of goodness. May we all continue on the path of goodness which leads to peace. I am grateful for your words of welcome, because it is true: I am here to proclaim peace. Yet I find it is you who are proclaiming peace to me, and to the entire world. As one of you observed, the crisis impacting these regions of Cameroon has brought Christian and Muslim communities closer than ever before. Indeed, your religious leaders have come together to establish a Movement for Peace, through which they seek to mediate between the opposing sides.

I wish this would happen in so many other places of the world. Your witness, your work for peace can be a model for the whole world! Jesus told us: Blessed are the peacemakers! But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. Yes, my dear sisters and brothers, you who hunger and thirst for justice, who are poor, merciful, meek, and pure of heart, you who have wept — you are the light of the world! (cf. Mt 5:3-14). Bamenda, today you are the city on the hill, resplendent in the eyes of all! Sisters and brothers, be the salt that continuously gives flavor to this land. Do not lose your flavor, even in the years to come! Cherish all the shared moments that have brought you together in these times of sorrow. Let us all cherish this day when we have come together to work for peace! Be like oil poured out upon the wounds of your brothers and sisters.

In this regard, I would like to express gratitude to all those, particularly the lay and religious women, who care for individuals traumatized by violence. It is an enormous task that goes unseen day by day, and as Sister Carine reminded us, it is also dangerous. The masters of war pretend not to know that it takes only a moment to destroy, yet a lifetime is often not enough to rebuild. They turn a blind eye to the fact that billions of dollars are spent on killing and devastation, yet the resources needed for healing, education and restoration are nowhere to be found. Those who rob your land of its resources generally invest much of the profit in weapons, thus perpetuating an endless cycle of destabilization and death. It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God’s creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience. We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity. The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters! They are the descendants of Abraham, as numerous as the stars in the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore. Let us look into each other’s eyes: we are this immense people! Peace is not something we must invent: it is something we must embrace by accepting our neighbor as our brother and as our sister. We do not choose our brothers and sisters: we simply must accept one another! We are one family, inhabiting the same home: this wonderful planet that ancient cultures have cared for across millennia.

Pope Francis’ insight in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium came to mind as I listened to your words. He wrote, “My mission of being in the heart of the people is not just a part of my life or a badge I can take off; it is not something ‘extra’ or just another moment in life. Instead, it is something I cannot uproot from my being without destroying my very self. I am a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world” (no. 273).

Dear brothers and sisters of Bamenda, it is with these sentiments that I am here today among you! Let us serve peace together! “We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing. All around us we begin to see nurses with soul, teachers with soul, politicians with soul, people who have chosen deep down to be with others and for others” (ibid.). Thus, my beloved predecessor exhorted us to walk together, each of us according to our own vocation, stretching the boundaries of our communities, beginning with concrete efforts on the local level, in order to love our neighbor, whomever and wherever he or she may be. You are witnesses to this silent revolution! As the Imam said, let us thank God that this crisis has not degenerated into a religious war, and that we are all still trying to love one another! Let us move forward courageously, without losing heart, and above all, together, always together!

Let us walk together, in love, searching always for peace.

[Outside the Cathedral:]

My dear brothers and sisters, today the Lord has chosen all of us to be workers who bring peace to this land! Let us all say a prayer to the Lord, that peace will truly reign among us, that as we release these white doves — a symbol of peace — that God’s peace will be upon all of us, upon this land, and keep us all united in his peace. Praise the Lord!