Open letter to Pope Leo XIV: S. Cameroons needs justice, action, not prayers.

It is in that light that the people of The Southern Cameroons receive your presence, not with passive anticipation, but with a deep and urgent expectation.

For more than sixty-one years, our people have lived under a cloud of unresolved political grievance. For almost a decade, that grievance has escalated into open conflict, marked by loss of lives, displacement, and the erosion of basic human dignity. 

Throughout this long and painful journey, our people have remained steadfast in prayer. Prayer have not been scarce nor foreign to us; it has been our refuge, our discipline, and our endurance.

Yet, Your Holiness, prayer without action has not delivered justice. And the repeated invocation of “peace,” that absent the structures that make peace meaningful, has too often served as a language of pacification, rather than resolution.

We write to you, therefore, not to ask for prayers alone, nor for general appeals to calm, but for justice, and for decisive action, rooted in the moral tradition your office represents. The history of the Holy See provides compelling precedents for such engagement.

In Mozambique, a devastating civil war was brought to an end, not by dismissing one side as illegitimate, but by recognising all parties as stakeholders in a shared crisis. 

Under the moral leadership of the late Pope John Paul II, and through the facilitation of the Community of Sant’Egidio, negotiations were conducted between the government and RENAMO rebels. 

Crucially, those rebels were not approached as “terrorists” to be eliminated, but as ‘actors’ whose participation was necessary for peace. That decision to engage rather than to exclude, produced the 1992 Rome Peace Accords, a durable settlement that ended years of bloodshed.

This precedent speaks directly to the present reality in Cameroon, where Ambazonia fighters are often labeled in terms that foreclose dialogue. The experience of Mozambique demonstrates that sustainable peace is not achieved by denying the existence of one party, but by bringing all relevant actors into a credible process of negotiation.

In the Central African Republic, your predecessor, the late Pope Francis, took the extraordinary step of entering an active conflict zone, at a time violence between communities threatened total fragmentation. 

His visit to Bangui in 2015, was not symbolic alone. It was transformative. By engaging directly with both Christian and Muslim leaders, and by physically placing himself within the space of conflict, he helped de-escalate tensions and fostered a climate of reconciliation. It was a demonstration that presence, when coupled with purpose, can shift the trajectory of violence.

Similarly, in South Sudan, Pope Francis, of blessed memory, intervened in the midst of ongoing hostilities, summoning rival leaders and confronting them with the moral weight of their responsibilities. 

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, the Church played a decisive role in mediating a political crisis, leading to The Saint Sylvester Agreement.

These examples are not distant anomalies. They are part of a consistent pattern: when the Vatican chooses to act, it does so with clarity, courage, and a willingness to engage all parties; especially in moments when others hesitate. Our people stand in need of such clarity. 

In Yaounde, there persists a belief that time will resolve this conflict, and that prolonged pressure will erode resistance, and that separatists’ aspirations will fade through attrition. 

But such a strategy rests on a grave miscalculation. It assumes that a people can be worn down into silence without consequence. In truth, the only way that logic succeeds is through the total destruction of that people. That is not peace, it is annihilation.

Equally important is the need to confront prevailing narratives about responsibility for the impasse. Separatist leaders have not rejected dialogue. On the contrary, they have demonstrated a consistent willingness to engage dialogue, when credible opportunities arise.

In Switzerland, calls for dialogue were met with openness from our representatives, yet, the process failed to gain traction, due to the absence of sustained commitment from the Cameroonian State. 

In Canada, early steps toward engagements were taken, only for the initiative to collapse, when returning officials were publicly disowned by their own government before their efforts could even be consolidated.

These episodes reveal a pattern that cannot be ignored. The obstacle to progress is not an absence of willingness on the part of separatists, but a persistent reluctance within the Cameroonian State to fully commit to genuine dialogue.

Your Holiness, any meaningful intervention must begin with this recognition: We are not intransigent. The deeper challenge lies elsewhere

Justice, in this matter, must be understood in concrete terms. It requires an honest acknowledgment of the historical grievances that underpin this conflict. It calls for the recognition of identity, the restoration of political dignity, and the release of individuals detained for the peaceful expression of their views. It demands accountability for the suffering inflicted upon civilian populations and a commitment to redress. Justice is not an abstract ideal. It is the foundation upon which any lasting peace must be built.

Action, likewise, must move beyond declarations. It entails the creation of a credible framework for dialogue- one that brings all stakeholders to the table under conditions of seriousness and continuity. 

It requires the application of the Vatican’s diplomatic influence to ensure that engagement is not episodic, but sustained and outcome-oriented.

Action is what made the difference in Mozambique. It is what helped shift realities in the Central African Republic. It is what prevented escalation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC. And it is what is urgently required in the Southern Cameroons today.

Your Holiness, your visit carries with it a profound responsibility. The people of Southern Cameroons do not reject peace. They reject a version of peace that asks them to endure injustice in silence. They do not dismiss prayer. At the same time, they cannot accept prayer as a substitute for intervention.

As you walk this land, you stand in continuity with the late Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis, whose legacies remind us that moral authority achieves its highest purpose when it is exercised with courage.

We ask that you draw from that legacy, not in word alone, but in deeds. History will judge this moment, not by the ceremonies it witnessed, but by the choices that were made. It will ask whether in the face of sustained human sufferings, the voice of the Church chose caution, or chose to act. We trust that you will choose to act.

Respectfully

On the behalf of Our People (The Southern Cameroons (Ambazonia)