Muslim scholar and peace activist Abdulkarim Ali has issued a passionate open letter from Kondengui Central Prison in Yaoundé, calling on Andrew Nkea to use the anticipated visit of Pope Leo XIV to push for an end to the decade-long conflict in Southern Cameroons.
In the letter dated 27 February 2026 and addressed directly to the Archbishop of Bamenda, Abdulkarim Ali frames the Pope’s reported April visit as a “God-guided crack of light” and possibly “the last opportunity God will avail you to be the one through whom God ends this slaughter.”
“When the Shepherd Keeps Silence”
Titled “On Pope Leo XIV’s Visit: When the Shepherd Keeps Silence, What Becomes of the Blood Crying from the Soil?”, the letter blends Christian and Islamic references, underscoring Ali’s appeal for interfaith moral leadership.
Quoting St. Teresa of Calcutta, he writes:
“When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give him what he needed.”
Ali continues:
“I release these words to the public so that angels and men bear witness: I did not allow His Grace to go without counsel at this critical hour of his pastoral calling, and as a Muslim I did not betray my brother in faith.”
Writing from prison, he says he is not seeking personal freedom but drawing attention to what he describes as “ten years of war” marked by “little action and deceitful truces while people die.”
Faith, Justice and War in Southern Cameroons
Ali invokes biblical and Qur’anic texts to frame the conflict as a moral crisis.
Citing Isaiah and Micah, he reminds Church leaders:
“Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression.”
“What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?”
He also references the Qur’an:
“To each of you We have given a law and a way… so compete in good deeds and shun evil.”
“Oppression is evil. Killing of innocent souls is evil.”
Describing the humanitarian toll of the conflict, Ali paints a grim picture:
“Turn the prism one way, Catholics denied the Eucharist at checkpoints; another, Muslims watching boys disappear after evening prayer; another, Protestants burying children in bush graves; at the center, mothers who share only hunger and fear, no matter the creed.”
He adds:
“Thousands dead, and the numbers add with the ticking of the clock. Families scattered as refugees in Nigeria, forests filled with internally displaced people who sleep without roofs, prisons swelling with people whose crime is longing for justice.”
A Direct Challenge to the Biya Government
In one of the most striking sections of the letter, Abdulkarim Ali directly challenges the government of President Paul Biya.
“I dare the regime to reject a candid and direct request from the Pope—to cease fire, release prisoners of conscience, and engage in meaningful mediated dialogue and negotiations as a means to end this bloody conflict.”
He argues that a refusal would be “proof to the world” of the regime’s unwillingness to pursue peace.
Ali further claims that the Church holds moral and diplomatic leverage unmatched by political institutions, pointing to historical examples of Vatican mediation, including the Beagle Channel dispute, the Mozambique peace accords, and the US–Cuba rapprochement.
“The Church holds leverage no army or assembly can match,” he writes. “History keeps proof.”
“Do Not Let This Visit Be Only Song and Vestments”
The activist warns against what he sees as the risk of reducing the Pope’s visit to ceremonial symbolism.
“Do not let the Holy Father’s visit be remembered only for song and vestments while the people continue to bleed.”
Instead, he urges Archbishop Nkea to use the Pope’s presence to demand concrete steps:
“Cease fire, release prisoners of conscience, and engage in meaningful mediated dialogue.”
Ali concludes with an emotional appeal:
“The blood of the innocent cries out from the soil of Southern Cameroons. My spirit is unchained; my hope rests with the Lord—and with your courage.”
He also asks that his “love and gratitude” be conveyed to Pope Leo XIV “on behalf of Muslims and Southern Cameroonians.”
A Critical Moment
The Vatican has not yet publicly confirmed the full details of the Pope’s proposed itinerary, but news of a possible visit to Bamenda has generated significant attention across conflict-affected regions.
Ali’s letter is likely to intensify debate over the role of the Catholic Church in mediating Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis and whether international religious diplomacy could open new pathways toward ceasefire and dialogue.
As anticipation builds around the Pope’s reported visit, the question raised by Abdulkarim Ali lingers: if moral authority does not speak at a time of bloodshed, what becomes of justice?