Pope Leo XIV has called on Cameroon’s youth to turn their backs on corruption and become a driving force for a more just and hopeful society, delivering one of the most pointed speeches of his African visit during a mass in Douala.

More than one hundred thousand worshippers packed the city’s main stadium, many having slept there overnight to secure a place. Greeted by drums, song and ululations, the US-born pontiff celebrated mass and then addressed young people directly in both French and English.

He urged them to reject every form of abuse, violence and exploitation, and instead to cultivate solidarity and hospitality in their communities. “Be the first faces and hands that bring the bread of life to your neighbours,” he said, calling on them to offer “the food of wisdom and deliverance from all that does not nourish them, but rather obscures good desires and robs them of their dignity.”

Leo acknowledged the frustration of a generation growing up amid poverty, unemployment and entrenched graft, but insisted that resignation was not an option. “Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” he told the crowd, warning them not to be “corrupted by temptations that waste your energies and do not serve the progress of society.”

Cameroon, with a population of about 29 million and a median age of 18, is emblematic of a continent where youthful majorities live under some of the world’s longest-serving leaders. President Paul Biya has ruled since 1982, a tenure that has come to symbolise the gulf between a restless youth and aging political elites.

Despite oil revenues and modest economic growth, many young Cameroonians say opportunities remain scarce and wealth is concentrated among a small, well-connected class. The pope’s appeal to “break the chains of corruption” was widely interpreted as a challenge to both officials and citizens to change that reality.

Catholics make up roughly 29 percent of the population, and Cameroon has become a key source of new priests and religious vocations for the global church. Later in the day, Leo was scheduled to meet students, professors and administrators at the Catholic University of Central Africa in Yaoundé, continuing a tradition of papal encounters that seek to rally young people in the developing world to persevere in the face of corruption, conflict and inequality.