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POPE-CAMEROON Jun-16-2008 (370 words) xxxi
Pope urges world community to help Cameroon out of poverty
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI called on the world community to help Cameroon break its "vicious circle of underdevelopment and extreme poverty."
He also denounced the world's arms traffickers, urging them to reflect upon the consequences the lucrative industry had on the lives of innocent people.
The pope made his comments in a June 16 audience with Cameroon's new ambassador to the Vatican, Antoine Zanga.
Cameroon's government, like that of all nations, must seek to ensure social and economic stability for its citizens, the pope said. He urged authorities to invest in small projects that promote local entrepreneurship and fight more effectively against illegal weapons trafficking and corruption.
But while the people of Cameroon must commit themselves to working for the common good, the pope said the international community also should guarantee economic policies that could "contribute to breaking the vicious circle of underdevelopment and extreme poverty" in Cameroon.
He said he hoped measures would be taken to reduce or cancel the African nation's debt and to bring about "a more equitable allocation" of the nation's natural resources to revive its economy and give young people hope for the future.
The pope launched an appeal "to all people involved in the sale or trafficking of weapons, which often (involves) very lucrative stakes, to ask themselves what their conduct breeds."
Armed conflict was often the reason a growing number of refugees fled to Cameroon, he said.
The pope appealed to the region's leaders to do more to ensure peace and security for its people. He said pockets of violence scattered throughout the country hurt innocent people, even the church.
The pope recalled the 1991 killing of retired Archbishop Yves Plumey of Garoua; the 2003 death of German Claretian Father Anton Probst, a missionary in Cameroon; and the 1995 death of Jesuit Father Englebert Mveng, a noted theologian, who was slain in his home.
Pope Benedict said it was one of the key tasks of a nation's political leaders to guarantee safety for its people by working to resolve "tensions and discontent that regularly generate conflict" and to promote dialogue and respect for cultural and ethnic diversity.
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Copyright (c) 2008 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
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