African Catholics recoil at Trump's spat with Pope Leo
Pope Leo XIV waves to supporters as he leaves after his visit to the Ngul Zamba (Power of God) orphanage in Yaounde, Cameroon, during an apostolic journey to Africa, on April 15, 2026.
With his previous insults towards African countries and his gutting of foreign assistance, US President Donald Trump has offended the continent's Catholics more than once before, but his spat this week with Pope Leo has raised eyebrows nevertheless.
"I was utterly shocked to read President Trump's remarks about the pope. Nowhere in modern history have we witnessed such verbal recklessness against an institution as revered as the papacy," said Blaise Bebey Abong, 38, a Cameroonian diplomat in Yaounde, where Leo arrived on Wednesday for the second stop of his four-country Africa tour.
