By Prof. Januarius Jingwa Asongu

The impending visit of Pope Leo presents not merely a diplomatic moment, but a profound moral test for the Church in Cameroon and for the global Catholic conscience. It is a moment that demands more than ceremony. It demands courage. It demands truth. It demands prophecy.

For too long, the Church in Cameroon has stood at a dangerous crossroads—torn between its calling to be the voice of the voiceless and its instinct for institutional preservation. In the face of the Southern Cameroons struggle, the Church has too often chosen caution over conviction, diplomacy over discipleship. In doing so, it has risked not only silence in the face of injustice, but something far more troubling: the gradual transformation from a witness to the oppressed into a companion of power.

A Church that refuses to speak when its people suffer does not remain neutral. It drifts—quietly but decisively—toward complicity. And in that drift lies a grave danger: that the Church itself may come to resemble the very structures of oppression it was called to challenge.

History has already given us a warning.

When Pope John Paul II visited Cameroon, he called on President Paul Biya to address what was then known as the Anglophone Problem. That call was prophetic. But it was not heeded. Decades later, the problem has not only persisted—it has escalated into a devastating war marked by displacement, destruction, and profound human suffering.
Before his passing, Pope Francis had begun to show interest in the situation, recognizing that the suffering of the Southern Cameroons people could no longer be ignored. Yet interest alone is not enough. Concern, without action, risks becoming another form of distance.

Now, the responsibility falls upon Pope Leo.

This is not a time for general statements about peace. It is not a time for abstract calls to unity. It is a time for decisive moral leadership. The Pope must go beyond words. He must offer to mediate between the Biya government and Southern Cameroons nationalists. He must place the moral authority of the papacy at the service of justice.

This is what it means to be a shepherd.

Encouragingly, voices within the Church have already begun to point in this direction. The recent statement by Cardinal Peter Turkson deserves recognition and praise. It reflects a growing awareness that the Church cannot remain distant from the suffering of the people. It must accompany them—not from above, but from within.

The Church must now decide what it will be.

Will it remain aligned, implicitly or explicitly, with the ruling class—guarding its institutions while its people bleed? Or will it rediscover the Gospel in its most radical form: as a call to stand with the oppressed, to speak truth to power, and to risk everything for justice?
The visit of Pope Leo is an opportunity for redemption.

It is an opportunity for the Church in Cameroon to reclaim its prophetic voice. To move beyond the language of cautious neutrality and embrace the costly grace of solidarity. To become once again what it was meant to be: not an echo of the state, but a conscience for the nation.

The Southern Cameroons people do not need another message of patience. They need a sign that the Church has heard their cry.

Let this visit be that sign.
Let it mark the moment when the Church chose not comfort, but courage—
 not silence, but truth—
 not power, but justice.

Prof. Asongu is Chancellor of Saint Monica University, author of Forced Unity, and Chair of the Alliance for Peace and Justice (APJ).