Saint Joseph Catholic Church

Following a farewell ceremony in Algiers (video), Pope Leo XIV departed this morning on a five-hour flight to Cameroon (map).

Addressing a gathering organized by Turning Point USA at the University of Georgia, Vice President Vance took issue with a papal tweet that “anyone who is a disciple of Christ, the Prince of Peace, is never on the side of those who once wielded the sword and today drop bombs.”

The vice president said, “Was God on the side of the Americans who liberated France from the Nazis? I certainly think the answer is yes.”

“I have a lot of respect for the pope. I like him. I admire him. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit,” Vance added. “It doesn’t bother me when he speaks on issues of the day—frankly, even when I disagree with how he’s applying a particular principle.”

Pope Leo XIV visited an orphanage in Cameroon’s capital this evening (video) and told the children that “Jesus cares especially for children like you.”

In a letter to the world’s cardinals, Pope Leo XIV called for a “shift from a pastoral approach of maintenance to one of mission”: a mission that is “Christ-centered and kerygmatic, “born of an encounter with Christ that is capable of transforming lives and spreading through attraction rather than conquest.”

Following a flight of over five hours from Algeria, Pope Leo XIV arrived today in Cameroon (map), the second of four nations he is visiting on his apostolic journey to Africa.

“Catholic social teaching regards power not as an end in itself, but as a means ordered toward the common good,” Pope Leo XIV wrote in a message to members of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. “This implies that the legitimacy of authority depends not on the accumulation of economic or technological strength, but on the wisdom and virtue with which it is exercised for the common good.”

During his five-hour flight from Algeria to Cameroon today, Pope Leo XIV briefly addressed journalists.