Pontifical Mass In Yaounde: Embracing Love, Truth, Justice For Peace

The four-day Pontifical visit of Pope Leo XIV to Cameroon rounded off Saturday with a historic mass at the Yaounde Military Air force base which has certainly left imprints in the hearts and could change the lives of thousands who took part. It was like a must-attend service with some travelling from far and others spending sleepless nights to take vantage positions so as not to miss any moment of the remarkable mass. The crowd was huge and expectations rife! Initially announced for about 80,000 faithful from the Yaounde, Bertoua and Garoua Ecclesiastical Provinces, the Pontifical Mass recorded far more than that number as the sea of people thronged the ground long before the arrival of the officiating Pontiff and the Presidential couple, Paul and Chantal Biya. No one wanted to be left out as all hurried not to miss an inch of the service. It was indeed a moment of ecstasy; in song and dance, as the jubilant and expectant worshippers and even curious onlookers joyously welcomed Pope Leo XIV. Their bouncy elation got to the apex when the Holy Father, on board his Mobile Van, made a round of the vast ceremonial ground, waving and blessing the people as they cheered him in imprecation. All these quickly gave way to total calmness as the congregants waited in all piety to hear from the Head of State of the Vatican and leader of the Catholic Church. The Holy Father’s insistence on love, truth and justice as prerequisites for sustainable peace certainly found fertile ground. Reminding Cameroonians to remain committed to God and to fear nothing, for God, as he said, is with them always, the Pope’s message left Cameroonians, with hopes high that his visit has served as a great source of social cohesion and reconciliation for the whole Cameroonian society. The joy on the faces of the public, expressed through spontaneous praise to God, suggested the resolve to walk the gospel. Inasmuch as the Pope’s message might not have brought a magic wand to switch on faultless peace, the heavily-attended and deeply listened homily will certainly mend still existing fences and allow people of the one and indivisible Cameroon to live in near perfect harmony. A seamless consonance with the national theme for the Pope’s visit which was, “May they all be one.” All through, the Holy Father emphasised on the fact that where genuine love for one another exists, all the divisive speeches and actions that tear a people apart would not be there. Simply put; that if all Cameroonians were to see one another as brothers and sisters, no one would harm the other. If the oneness of religion was perceived in the historic Pontifical Mass in Yaounde, as the attendees cut across all functional religions enjoying Cameroon as a ...