In the context of his apostolic journey to Africa, Pope Leo XIV traveled on the morning of April 17 from Yaoundé to Douala, where he presided over Holy Mass at Japoma Stadium in the presence of numerous faithful. After being received by local authorities upon his arrival, the Pontiff toured the venue in the popemobile before the Eucharistic celebration, during which he delivered a homily centered on the evangelical meaning of the multiplication of the loaves. In it, he emphasized that “there is bread for all if it is given to all” and called for addressing poverty and injustice from the logic of sharing and conversion of the heart. After the Mass, the Pope visited Saint Paul Catholic Hospital and later returned to Yaoundé, thus concluding his day in Cameroon.
We now provide the full homily below:
Dear brothers and sisters:
The Gospel we have just heard (Jn 6,1-15) is a word of salvation for all humanity. Today this Good News is proclaimed everywhere, and for the Church in Cameroon, it resounds as a providential announcement of God’s love and our communion.
The testimony of the apostle John describes, in fact, a great crowd (cf. vv. 2-5), just as we are now, here. For all those people, however, there was very little food: only “five barley loaves and two fish” (v. 9). Observing this disproportion, Jesus asks us today, as he then asked his disciples: how do you solve this problem? See how many hungry people, oppressed by fatigue: what do you do?
This question is addressed to each one of us: it is addressed to fathers and mothers who care for their families; it is addressed to the pastors of the Church, who watch over the Lord’s flock; it is addressed to those who have social and political responsibility to care for the people and look after their well-being. Christ addresses this question to the powerful and the weak, to the rich and the poor, to the young and the elderly, because we are all equally hungry. This need reminds us that we are creatures. We need to eat to live. We are not God; but precisely, where is God in the face of people’s hunger?
While awaiting our responses, Jesus gives his own: “He took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish, giving them as much as they wanted” (v. 11). A serious problem is solved by blessing the little food there is and sharing it among all who are hungry. The multiplication of the loaves and fish occurs in sharing; here is the miracle! There is bread for all if it is given to all. There is bread for all if it is taken not with a hand that hoards, but with a hand that gives. Let us observe Jesus’ gesture well: when the Son of God takes the bread and the fish, first of all he gives thanks. He thanks the Father for a good that becomes a gift and a blessing for all the people.
By doing so, the food abounds; it is not rationed in emergency, not stolen in dispute, nor wasted by those who gorge themselves while others have nothing to eat. As it passes from Christ’s hands to those of his disciples, the food increases for all; indeed, it overflows (cf. vv. 12-13). The people, amazed at what Jesus had done, exclaimed: “This is truly the Prophet” (v. 14), that is, the one who speaks in the name of God, the Word of the Almighty. And it is true, but Jesus does not use these words for personal success; he does not want to become king (cf. v. 15), because he has come to serve with love, not to dominate.
The miracle he performed is a sign of this love; it not only shows us how God feeds humanity with the bread of life, but also how we can bring this nourishment to all men and women who, like us, are hungry for peace, freedom, and justice. Every gesture of solidarity and forgiveness, every initiative of good is a morsel of bread for a humanity in need of care. And yet, this is not enough. To the food that nourishes the body must be added, with equal charity, the food of the soul, which nourishes our conscience, which sustains us in the dark hour of fear, amid the shadows of suffering. This food is Christ, who always nourishes his Church abundantly and strengthens us on the journey with his Body.
Brothers and sisters, the Eucharist we are celebrating thus becomes a source of renewed faith, because Jesus is present among us. The Sacrament does not rekindle a distant memory in time, but realizes a “companionship” that transforms us, because it sanctifies us. Blessed are those invited to the Lord’s supper! Around the Eucharist, this same table becomes a proclamation of hope in the trials of history and the injustices we see around us. It becomes a sign of God’s charity, which in Christ invites us to share what we have, so that it may multiply in the ecclesial fraternity.
The Lord embraces heaven and earth, knows our hearts and all the situations, joyful or sad, that we live. By becoming man to save us, he wanted to share the needs of humanity, starting with the simplest and most everyday ones. Hunger then reveals not only our need, but above all his love; let us remember this every time we meet the gaze of the brother and sister who lack the necessities. Those eyes, in fact, repeat to us the question Jesus asked his disciples: what do you do for all these people? It is true that being witnesses of Christ, imitating his gestures of love, often entails difficulties and obstacles, both outside and inside us, where pride can corrupt the heart. In those moments, however, let us repeat with the psalmist: “The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear?” (Ps 27,1). Even if we sometimes waver, God always encourages us: “Wait for the Lord and be strong; take courage and wait for the Lord” (v. 14).
Dear young people, I address this invitation especially to you, because you are the beloved children of the land of Africa. As brothers and sisters of Jesus, multiply your talents with the faith, tenacity, and friendship that animate you. Be the first to go as faces and hands that bring to your neighbor the bread of life; nourishment of wisdom and liberation from all that does not nourish us, but confuses our good desires and robs us of our dignity.
Even in your country so fertile, Cameroon, many suffer poverty, both material and spiritual. Do not yield to distrust and discouragement; reject every form of abuse and violence, which deceive by promising easy gains, but harden the heart and make it insensitive. Do not forget that your people are even richer than this land, for their treasure is their values: faith, family, hospitality, work. Be, therefore, protagonists of the future, following the vocation that God gives to each one, without letting yourselves be bought by temptations that waste energies and do not contribute to the progress of society.
To make your brave spirit a prophecy of the new world, take as an example what we have heard in the Acts of the Apostles. The first Christians gave bold witness to the Lord Jesus amid difficulties and threats, and persevered even in the midst of insults (cf. Acts 5,40-41). These disciples “every day, both in the Temple and in the houses, did not cease teaching and proclaiming the Good News of Christ Jesus” (v. 42), that is, of the Messiah, the Liberator of the world. Yes, the Lord frees from sin and death. Proclaiming this Gospel with constancy is the mission of every Christian; it is the mission that I entrust especially to you, young people, and to the entire Church living in Cameroon. Become good news for your country, as Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui is, for example, for the Congolese people.
Brothers and sisters, to teach means to leave a mark, as the farmer does with the plow in the field, so that what is sown may bear fruit. This is how the Christian proclamation changes our history, transforming minds and hearts. Proclaiming the Risen Jesus means tracing signs of justice in a land that suffers and is oppressed; signs of peace amid rivalries and corruptions; signs of faith that free us from superstition and indifference. With this Gospel in our hearts, in a little while we will share the Eucharistic Bread, which satisfies us for eternal life. With joyful faith, let us ask the Lord to multiply his gift among us, for the good of all.