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April 17 (UPI) — Pope Leo XIV held a mass on Friday in Douala, Cameroon, in a stadium with an estimated 120,000 people, marking Catholicism’s growth in Africa.

The pope discussed poverty, violence and corruption in his address to the people of Cameroon, where about 30% of the population is Catholic.

About 20% of the world’s Catholic population lives in Africa.

“Do not give in to distrust and discouragement,” the pope said. “Reject every form of abuse or violence, which deceives by promising easy gains but hardens the heart and makes it insensitive. Do not forget that your people are even richer than this land, for your treasure lies in your values: faith, family, hospitality and work.”

More than 37.7 million people live in poverty in Cameroon. The pope shared the story of Jesus multiplying loaves and fish, saying the “miracle” happened when they were shared.

“Yet this alone is not enough,” he said. “The food that sustains the body must be accompanied, with equal charity, by nourishment for the soul. A nourishment that sustains our conscience and steadies us in dark hours of fear and amid the shadows of suffering.”

The mass was held at Japoma Stadium on the third day of the pope’s 10-day tour of Africa. He will next visit Angola and later Equatorial Guinea during his trip.

Pope Leo spent Thursday in Bamenda, Cameroon, the epicenter of the Anglophone Crisis or Ambazonia War, an armed conflict between the government and separatist groups that has waged for nearly a decade.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange before the closing bell at the NYSE on Wall Street on March 3, in New York City. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis revised the rate of economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2025 down Thursday due largely to slower-than-expected investment. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

April 9 (UPI) — The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis revised the rate of economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2025 down Thursday due largely to slower-than-expected investment.

The annual rate of growth for gross domestic product was revised downward from 0.7% to 0.5% to end 2025. The Commerce Department said the revision primarily reflects a downward revision to investment.

“Within investment, the downward revision was led by private inventory investment, particularly wholesale trade, based on updated U.S. Census Bureau inventory data,” Thursday’s GDP report said.

Thursday’s report is the third estimate of economic growth for the fourth quarter of 2025. It was slated to be published on March 27 but was delayed due to the government shutdown in October and November.

Gains in wholesale trade, information services and healthcare were offset by declines in the federal government and nondurable goods manufacturing. Private service-producing industries tallied a 2.3% gain in real value added to the GDP while the federal government’s contribution decreased by 7.8%.

Thirty-five states posted gains to GDP, led by North Dakota at 3.8%. The District of Columbia, where many federal employees are located, had a decrease of 8.3%.

North Dakota was also one of three states with a decrease in personal incomes, down 4%. Personal incomes also declined in South Dakota by 2% and Iowa by 1.5%.