BAMENDA, Cameroon (AP) — Pope Leo XIV blasted the "handful of tyrants" who are ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, as he preached a message of peace Thursday in the epicenter of a separatist conflict considered one of the world's most neglected crises.

Leo traveled to the western Cameroon city of Bamenda, where jubilant crowds clogged the roads, blowing horns and dancing. They were overjoyed that a pope had come so far to see them and put a global spotlight on the violence that has traumatized this region for nearly a decade.

Leo presided over a peace meeting involving a Mankon traditional chief, a Presbyterian moderator, an imam and a Catholic nun. The aim was to highlight the interfaith movement that has been seeking to end the conflict and care for its many victims.

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In his remarks in the St. Joseph Cathedral, on land donated by the Mankon, Leo praised the peace movement and warned against allowing religion to enter conflicts. It's a theme he has been echoing amid the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran and the religious justifications for it by U.S. officials.

"Blessed are the peacemakers!" he said. "But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth."

He called for a "decisive change of course" that leads away from conflict and the exploitation of the land and its people for military or economic gain.

"The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters!" he said.

Leo's comments were directed at Cameroon's separatist conflict. But Vatican officials have made clear that on this trip, he is preaching the Gospel message of peace that surpasses borders and continents, and is meant for all those responsible for the wars and exploitation ravaging the Earth.

It wasn't immediately clear if any of the separatist fighters, who announced a three-day pause in fighting to allow the pope safe passage to Bamenda, attended.

Thousands of people then gathered on the Bamenda airfield for Leo's afternoon Mass, which he was celebrating before returning to the capital Yaounde.

A conflict rooted in colonial history

The conflict in Cameroon's two Anglophone regions is rooted in Cameroon's colonial history, when the country was divided between France and Britain after World War I. English-speaking regions later joined French Cameroon in a 1961 U.N.-backed vote, but separatists say they have since been politically and economically marginalized.

In 2017, English-speaking separatists launched a rebellion with the stated goal of breaking away from the French-speaking majority and establishing an independent state. The conflict has killed more than 6,000 people and displaced over 600,000 others, according to the International Crisis Group.

Leo arrived to a raucous welcome in Bamenda, where blasting music from loudspeakers gave the event a concert-like vibe.

"We are so overjoyed, so overwhelmed," said Felicity Cali, a Catholic student. "Say thank you, God, for this extraordinary day and for making us be alive to see this day."

The separatist movement is believed to be backed by several actors abroad. In December, a federal jury in U.S. convicted two individuals for conspiracy to provide funds and equipment to the separatist fighters. Belgian authorities in March also announced they had arrested four people as part of investigations into Belgian residents suspected of being among the separatist leaders and raising money for them there.

"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," Leo said. "It is a world turned upside down, an exploitation of God's creation that must be denounced and rejected by every honest conscience."

Cameroon sits atop significant reserves of oil, natural gas, cobalt, bauxite, iron ore, gold and diamonds, making resource extraction one of the pillars of its economy.

While French and English companies have long dominated the extraction industry in Cameroon, Chinese companies have established a significant presence in recent years, particularly in the gold mining regions of the east.

On the eve of Leo's arrival, separatist fighters announced a three-day pause in fighting. A spokesperson for the Unity Alliance, Lucas Asu, said the pause "reflects a deliberate commitment to responsibility, restraint and respect for human dignity, even in the context of ongoing conflict."

Though the number of deadly attacks by separatists has decreased in recent years, the conflict shows no sign of resolution. Peace talks with international mediators have stalled, with both sides accusing each other of acting in bad faith.

Morine Ngum, a mother of three whose husband was shot dead in 2022 by Cameroonian soldiers while fighting as a separatist, expressed doubt that the pope's visit and peace meeting would lead to meaningful change. She said any real progress must begin with those in power.

"Nothing is going to change," said Ngum, 30. "This conflict has turned my children into orphans and me into a widow. Many families have been rendered homeless."

Testimony to pope about the toll of the conflict

The archbishop of Bamenda, Andrew Nkea Fuanya, told Leo that the people there had suffered from "a situation they did not create," losing their livelihoods, homes and education: Children were not allowed to go to school for years.

"Most Holy Father, today that your feet are standing on the soil of Bamenda that has drunk the blood of many of our children," he said.

Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, spent two weeks sitting with Fuanya at the same table during Pope Francis' 2024 big meeting, or synod, on the family.

The Right Rev. Fonki Samuel Forba, emeritus moderator of the Presbyterian church in Cameroon, said the Vatican had joined other faith groups in trying to bring the separatists to the negotiating table with the government, and meeting with their supporters abroad.

Biya's government has been accused of shunning dialogue with the separatists. The last time a peace meeting was held between the government and separatists was in 2022 during talks facilitated in Canada by the Canadian government.

"There is a proverb in Africa that 'When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers,'" Forba said.

Akua contributed from Yaounde, Cameroon. Associated Press writer Chinedu Asadu in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this report.