YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon (RNS) — Pope Leo XIV arrived in Cameroon on Wednesday afternoon (April 15) to jubilant crowds, stepping into a country where many see his visit as far more than a pastoral journey.

For thousands of Cameroonians, especially in the English-speaking northwest, which has seen violent conflict for a decade, the pope’s presence carries the weight of something deeper: the possibility that a nation wounded by years of violence might begin, however cautiously, to imagine peace again.

The apostolic visit spanning four days, part of the pontiff’s first major African tour , comes at a rare moment.…