Cameroon

Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province challenged to renew missionary zeal

27, July 2025

Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province challenged to renew missionary zeal 0

Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of the Catholic Diocese of Buea has urged the people of God in the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province (BAPEC) to rekindle their missionary zeal as the province marks the 25th anniversary of its Provincial Pastoral Plan, a roadmap adopted in 2000 to guide evangelization, catechesis, and development efforts across the province’s five Dioceses.

In his homily during the Thursday, July 24 anniversary celebration, Bishop Bibi called on pastoral agents to recommit themselves to the vision of the pastoral plan, which he described as “a prophetic document” and a “powerful tool for evangelization.”

“As we celebrate 25 years of the Bamenda Provincial Pastoral Plan, we are invited to renew our zeal for evangelization and missionary work,” the Cameroonian Catholic Bishop said during the celebration that was held at Bishop Rogan Minor Seminary of Buea Diocese.

He added, “Let us not treat this celebration as a mere ritual or historical marker. It must be a call to action.”

Bishop Bibi, who chairs the BAPEC Commission for the pastoral plan, said the 2025 Silver Jubilee year is “an opportune time to reawaken our commitment to what this Plan truly stands for – building a vibrant, participatory, and missionary Church in our province.”

“We cannot afford to be passive. Our people, especially the young, must own this vision. The Plan was never meant to gather dust in archives; it was meant to guide how we live our faith daily,” the Catholic Church leader said.

He noted that while progress had been made over the past 25 years, some Dioceses had “excluded themselves technically” from fully participating in the newly elected Provincial Pastoral Council.

“I don’t know whether some members did not want to take their responsibility or just wanted to be out of it completely,” he said.

Reflecting on the multi-year Synod on Synodality that was concluded on 27 October 2024 in Rome, Bishop Bibi praised the Bamenda province for being ahead of the curve.

“While others are discussing how to implement synodality, we’ve already lived it for 25 years. That should encourage us to keep working hard,” he said.

He added, “The Church teaches in paragraph 873 of the Catechism that there is diversity of ministries, but only one mission. That mission is the work of evangelization — and our plan is our roadmap.”

Bishop Bibi called on pastoral agents to explore the pastoral plan documents anew and to continue forming agents of evangelization capable of catechizing and uniting communities.

“Yes, we are celebrating 25 years. But this is not the end. May God continue to give us the grace to remain true to the content of this plan in season and out of season,” he implored.

The Bamenda Provincial Pastoral Plan, adopted in 2000 after a synodal process involving clergy, religious, and laity from the dioceses of Bamenda, Buea, Kumbo, Mamfe, and Kumba, laid out a 25-year vision rooted in Small Christian Communities, deep catechesis, justice and peace, and holistic human development.

Source: aciafrica

Archbishop Nkea says amid Amba conflict, situation improves for civilians—but torture continues

3, July 2025

Archbishop Nkea says amid Amba conflict, situation improves for civilians—but torture continues 0

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda, the president of Cameroon’s Episcopal conference has said that the situation for civilians amid the Anglophone Crisis “has improved significantly, at least in terms of daily life”—but “we still have many cases of kidnappings and ransom demands, torture continues, and the population still lives in fear.”

Vatican News, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, reported that the conflict has displaced 800,000 over the past eight years, “making the area the scene of one of the most serious and ignored crises in the world.”

Cameroon, the Central African giant of 31 million is 58% Christian (28% Catholic), 22% Muslim, and 19% ethnic religionist. Pope Benedict made an apostolic journey there in 2009.

Source: Catholic Culture

Roman Catholic Priest says Biya and his gang need to face a ‘Tower of Babel’

14, June 2025

Roman Catholic Priest says Biya and his gang need to face a ‘Tower of Babel’ 0

Echoing earlier calls for change by some Cameroonian bishops, a Catholic priest has invoked the Holy Spirit, urging it to bring confusion akin to the biblical “Babel” on the country’s ruling elite.

Father Richard Alphonse Sandjong Yakam, of St. John Paul II Parish in Banengo, in the West Region, used his Pentecost Sunday homily to emphasize that change had become imperative for Cameroon.

He drew a parallel, stating that just as God commissioned the Holy Spirit to sow confusion among those who sought to rival Him by constructing the Tower of Babel, Cameroonians now need to invoke that same Spirit to disrupt the ruling elite whom he accused of state capture.

“The Holy Spirit had confused the language of those who had built the Tower of Babel to compete with God. God sent the Holy Spirit to confuse them, and the Holy Spirit descended and sowed confusion in their language; and they dispersed. We are also praying that this very Spirit should come to our country and sow confusion in the language of those who have taken the country hostage and free this country so that everyone will find their footing, so that every of God’s children should find freedom, peace and wellbeing; so that Cameroon that God placed under the patronage of the Virgin Mary becomes a country in which life is worth living,” the priest said.

He called on the Holy Spirit to make Cameroonians understand that they are capable of overcoming domination.

“May Cameroonians overcome fear. May the Holy Spirit liberate Cameroonians to defeat fear and act like the Apostles, who, after receiving the Holy Spirit, left their hiding places and boldly spoke the truth,” Yakam said.

“The Holy Spirit needs to renew and transform everything. Cameroon needs a new start. Conquering fear means recognizing that we are free children of God. The most important good He has given us is freedom. However, this freedom should not be confused with profligacy or licentiousness,” he said.

“True freedom means living as directed by the Holy Spirit, and He can only lead us in God’s direction. Those who allow themselves to be led by the Holy Spirit are not controlled by their base instincts or desires (the ‘flesh’). Their focus shifts from worldly things to heaven. It is the Spirit who frees us from all burdens—the yoke of slavery, tribalism, nepotism, lies, and embezzlement,” the priest added.

The message from the priest comes just months before the next presidential election. Incumbent President Paul Biya, aged 92, is widely expected to seek re-election after 43 years in power.

Yakam’s remarks add to the voices of Catholic clerics increasingly vocal about the need for a fresh face in the Cameroon Presidency.

While the Catholic Bishops’ Conference in Cameroon has not explicitly called on the President to step aside, they have made statements criticising his government for failing to deliver the goods of governance.

On March 28, they issued a pastoral letter defining the qualities required of a president: “Integrity, humility, modesty, and moral leadership qualities.”

The letter stated that the future president must not use his power to “enrich himself” and “must be able to travel throughout the country, visiting each region at least once during his term.” In this way, he will be able to “understand the needs and desires of the Cameroonian people.”

The bishops didn’t mention President Biya, but the condition of travelling the country is something the President can’t clearly do: He isn’t known to have visited many regions in his 43 years in power, and in recent years, is known to have been spending more of his time in his native village, Mvomeka.

Individual bishops in Cameroon have however directly called on Biya not to seek re-election.

Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala had said that urging the president to seek re-election was “unrealistic.”

Bishop Barthelemy Yaouda Hourgo of the Catholic Diocese of Yagoua spoke about the frustrations facing Cameroonians and noted that even the devil couldn’t inflict greater pain on the people.

Bishop Emmanuel Abbo of the Catholic Diocese of Ngaoundere expressed dismay at the government’s stifling of dissent, particularly accusing the country’s interior minister of using language that suggests any opposition to President Biya could be dealt with in very violent fashion.

Archbishop Jean Mbarga of Yaoundé was more circumspect, urging the faithful to “assume their responsibilities towards the nation.”

The election will take place in October this year, and although the elections management body ELECAM hasn’t validated any candidatures as yet, a number of Cameroonians have signaled their intentions to run, including Prof. Maurice Kamto of the MRC party, Cabral Libi of the PCRN, and Barrister Akere Muna, who has been endorsed by Univers political party.

President Paul Biya hasn’t declared his candidacy yet, but his supporters have been urging him to seek an eighth term in office.

Source: Crux

Germany: Catholic Women Association members urged to invest in spiritual growth

24, May 2025

Germany: Catholic Women Association members urged to invest in spiritual growth 0

The 2025 Retreat for members of the Catholic Women Association (CWA) in Europe that started on Friday, May 23 in the beautiful city of Wuppertal in the Nordrhein Westphalia region drew an inspiring assembly of devout women, united in faith and purpose, under the leadership of their respective branch executives.

The gathering is skillfully being coordinated by Rev Father Alphonse Liwonjo and the European CWA Coordinator alongside host Presidents Christy Atabong, Frida Mua, Susan Abolo and Loveline Nana.

Drawing from the rich theological and spiritual traditions of the Church, Rev Fathers Terence Noro and Alphonse Liwonjo expounded on the significance of the theme “As pilgrims of hope, women in leadership aspire to develop spiritually and intellectually”.

Rev Father Alphonse Liwonjo furthered that the Wuppertal retreat has provided a sacred time of grace, mercy, and renewal and urged the women to fully embrace the plenary indulgences offered by the Church, emphasizing the indispensable role of conversion and sacramental reconciliation.

Rev Father Liwonjo enjoined the CWA members to emulate Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ and ensure that they prayed the rosary with total submission to God.  He also encouraged the mothers to invest in their spiritual growth.

Also speaking were engineer Tambe Mathias and Lady Buma Sarah who impacted the women on spirituality and leadership deep within the CWA.

The retreat recorded an impressive turnout from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Germany.  

The convention will end on Sunday.

By Soter Agbaw-Ebai in Wuppertal

May 20: Pope Leo XIV sends blessings, wishes for prosperity

22, May 2025

May 20: Pope Leo XIV sends blessings, wishes for prosperity 0

On the occasion of Cameroon’s annual National Day marked on May 20, Pope Leo XIV has extended his prayerful best wishes and Papal blessings to the Central African nation’s President and citizens, and called for continued commitment to peace, justice, and respect for human dignity.

In a statement issued Monday, May 19 through the Apostolic Nuncio in Cameroon, Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt, the Holy Father wishes the people of God in Cameroon prosperity that is based on the country’s rich heritage.

“On the occasion of the national day of the Republic of Cameroon, I am pleased to offer to Your Excellency the best wishes for you and for your fellow citizens,” Pope Leo XIV says in the message addressed to Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya.

The Roman Pontiff adds, “I entrust to the lord everyone’s efforts to build a future of peace and prosperity by drawing on the rich human and cultural heritage of your country, with a concern for justice and respect for each person.”

“May God pour over your excellency and all the Cameroonian people His abundant blessings,” the Holy Father implores in favour of the people of God in Cameroon celebrating their 2025 National Day, organized under the theme, “Army and Nation united for a Cameroon turned towards peace and prosperity”.

Cameroon’s National Day marks the country’s transition to a unitary state in 1972, following a national referendum. Prior to this, the Central African nation operated under a federal system, with East and West Cameroon functioning semi-autonomously.

Initiated by the then President, Ahmadou Ahidjo, the 1972 referendum led to the adoption of a unitary constitution and the birth of the United Republic of Cameroon.

May 20 has since become a symbol of national unity and a day that brings together and celebrates Cameroon’s unity in the diversity of ethnic, linguistic, and cultural communities.

Cameroon is to hold a presidential Election in October 2025.

President Biya, who has held the seat since 1982, is expected to vie for an eighth presidential term in the Central African nation, where Presidents have a seven-year mandate. His “extraordinarily long tenure” was occasioned by constitutional amendments that President Biya’s party, Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM), spearheaded in 2008, which resulted in the abolition of the two-term presidential limit.

The Cameroonian President, Biya, is Africa’s second-longest-serving Head of State after President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea.

The Central African nation’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters.

School boycotts have become common in the Cameroonian region as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as “ghost towns”.

According to a March 2025 report, Cameroon’s Anglophone crisis “has caused over 900,000 people to flee internally and 60,000 people to flee abroad.”

The report indicates that “as of February 2025, more than 500,000 internally displaced people were in Anglophone-majority regions.”

The UNHCR has reported that Cameroon plays host to over 400,000 refugees primarily coming from the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria, Chad, and Niger; more than 17,000 asylum seekers; and over 1 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) “with an additional 658,544 returnees.”

More than 3.3 million people stand in need of humanitarian aid in Cameroon.

In January, the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) called on the people of God in the country to take personal responsibility in realizing the development of the country.

“There is a need, therefore, for every single Cameroonian to take his or her responsibility for the construction of our country,” Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya said during the opening ceremony of the 48th Annual Seminar of NECC in the Catholic Diocese of Buea.

The Local Ordinary of Cameroon’s Bamenda Archdiocese reaffirmed the Church’s commitment to its evangelizing mission, saying that NECC members “will continue to serve reconciliation, justice, and peace.”

Source: aciafrica

Archbishop of Garoua says Fr Mbaibarem is still in the hands of the kidnappers

13, May 2025

Archbishop of Garoua says Fr Mbaibarem is still in the hands of the kidnappers 0

“Father Mbaibarem is still in the hands of the kidnappers. From time to time, they contact some locals to demand a ransom for his release,” Archbishop Faustin Ambassa Ndjodo of Garoua in northern Cameroon told Fides. Father Valentin Mbaibarem, parish priest of the Church of St. John the Baptist in Madingring, was kidnapped on May 7, on the road between Guidjiba and Tcholliré.

“The road between Guidjiba and Tcholliré is a dangerous stretch of road, as there have been several cases of kidnappings with the aim of extorting travelers, but this is the first time a priest has been kidnapped on this road,” said Bishop Ambassa Ndjodo. Northern Cameroon has been plagued by kidnappings for years. According to local newspapers, several teachers were taken hostage on this road a few days before Father Mbaibarem’s kidnapping.

The gendarmerie began a search of the area, which led to the release of a hostage who had been kidnapped on May 10 in a village near Garoua. As a sign of solidarity and spiritual support, the Archbishop asked all parishes of the archdiocese to offer a special prayer for Father Mbaibarem on Sunday, May 11. He also invoked the intercession of the Virgin Mary for the priest’s speedy release.

Source: Agenzia Fides

The Diocese of Buea celebrates 75 years of enduring faith

10, May 2025

The Diocese of Buea celebrates 75 years of enduring faith 0

Seventy-five years ago, the Diocese of Buea was established in Cameroon’s South West region, marking a historic milestone as the country’s first diocese.

Now, seven decades later, thousands of Christians gathered at the Divine Mercy Co-Cathedral in Buea on May 7 to celebrate this enduring legacy of faith.

“The faith that has been passed down to the people, nurtured within communities, and continues to sustain us is what we celebrate today,” said Bishop Michael Miabesue Bibi of the Buea Diocese.

However, the history of the diocese story stretches even further back. It was part of the Apostolic Prefecture of Cameroon in 1890, became an Apostolic Prefecture in 1923, and was later designated an Apostolic Vicariate in 1939. On April 18, 1950, it officially became Cameroon’s first diocese.

Successive bishops played a crucial role in its growth, founding religious congregations and establishing new parishes.

In 2019, Michael Bibi was appointed Bishop of Buea, and in 2021, and officially became its 5th residential bishop. Today, the Diocese of Buea continues to flourish, with 37 parishes serving its community.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, President of the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference, described the diocese as “the mother” of Cameroon’s 26 Catholic dioceses.

Like all the Church in Cameroon, the Diocese of Buea has endured a turbulent history — surviving the hardships of two world wars, the struggle for independence, and, today, the ongoing separatist crisis affecting the country’s English-speaking North West and South West regions.

Throughout the celebration, speakers subtly referenced the current crisis as they reflected on years of unwavering faith.

Nkea urged Church leaders in Buea to “continue to give hope to the hopeless, especially in this time in the history of our country.”

While the archbishop did not explicitly define “this time in the history of our country,” anyone familiar with Cameroon’s challenges would recognize his reference to the ongoing separatist crisis in the country’s two English-speaking regions.

Since 2016, these regions have been embroiled in a separatist war, fueled by long-standing grievances over the marginalization of Anglophones by the Francophone-dominated government.

The crisis reached a boiling point eight years ago when teachers and lawyers in the two English-speaking regions took to the streets, protesting what they saw as the imposition of French in Anglo-Saxon schools and courts.

The government’s military crackdown on these peaceful protests only escalated tensions. In response, a separatist movement emerged, demanding secession and the creation of a new nation called Ambazonia.

Since then, the conflict has taken a devastating toll — at least 6,500 people have lost their lives, and over a million more have been displaced.

While the crisis was not directly addressed during the 75th anniversary of the Diocese of Buea, its effects were undeniable. In an interview with Crux, Grace Ngong, a catechist at Bojungo — Cameroon’s oldest parish — acknowledged the deep impact of the conflict on the church.

Ngong fled to the South West region when violence intensified in her hometown of Wumin the North West region, where she had also been serving as a catechist.

“When I arrived in Bojungo, I continued my work as a catechist,” she told Crux.

“I have been serving there for six years,” she added, though she declined to comment further on the ongoing crisis.

Felicia Motia, a programs analyst at Carita Buea was more forthcoming.

“Seeing the entire Christian community of the Diocese of Buea, along with other guests, come together to celebrate the 75th anniversary is truly significant to me. This feeling is even stronger when I consider the ongoing Anglophone crisis affecting the region, particularly in the Southwest, where the diocese is located. Given these challenges, the church’s efforts — especially in my own department — have been crucial in providing support to vulnerable people,” she told Crux.

“It is truly meaningful that Caritas, the charitable arm of the church, is working closely with the church to support vulnerable people in various ways—through education, emergency assistance, and more,” Motia said.

Acknowledging the ongoing crisis and the internal struggles within the Church, the Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt, called for unity, urging the people of God to stand together and work in harmony with their Bishop.

“Unity is important,” Bettencourt said. He used the metaphor of a rope to illustrate the strength and importance of unity.

“Consider a single thread — fragile, easily broken with the slightest pressure. Snap! It is gone. But a rope is different. A rope is made of many weak threads woven together into a strong, unbreakable bond. That is unity,” he said.

“Similarly, unity binds people together, making them stronger, more resilient, and able to withstand challenges. Just like the intertwined threads of a rope create durability, individuals united in faith, purpose, or community form a powerful force,” Bettencourt told Crux.

“Your unity to your bishop guarantees the universal church’s support for you,” he added.

He talked up the 75th anniversary celebrations, noting that “the faith of the Catholic Church was kept alive thanks to your parents and your grandparents and to the tribes, which kept the faith alive, even when priests were not allowed to minister. So today is a celebration of faith.”

Bibi noted that the celebration should not blind the Christian community to the various challenges it still faces and announced that a diocesan synod will be convened in the near future to assess what has been done and what remains to be done.

“Together with members of Christ’s lay faithful, the religious, the priests, and myself, we are going to sit and have an evaluation of the state of the diocese. Of course, there are things that exist in the diocese that are good, that we have to maintain. There are also certain things that we may need to take some decisions on, and get proposals on how we can live, and live better, in a united way, in communion with one another,” the bishop told Crux.

Source: Crux

Archbishop Nkea re-elected to lead Cameroon Bishops

5, May 2025

Archbishop Nkea re-elected to lead Cameroon Bishops 0

The bishops of Cameroon, convening last weekend in Yaoundé, have reappointed Archbishop Andrew Nkea to lead the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (CENC). As he begins his new three-year term, the archbishop of the Diocese of Bamenda, located in the Northwest Region, has outlined his priorities, with restoring peace to the troubled Northwest and Southwest (NOSO) regions at the forefront.

This is not Archbishop Nkea’s first foray into this critical issue. The prelate has frequently voiced his hopes for peace to return to the NOSO during his homilies. In March 2024, just before Easter, he delivered a widely noted message analyzing the root causes of the persistent sociopolitical crisis, which began in 2014. “If this crisis persists, it is because people trust diabolical processes more than they trust God,” he stated.

The Archbishop of Bamenda then proposed a path to ending this human tragedy. “We must pray together. Whether we are Christians, Muslims, or followers of traditional religion, we must unite in prayer, for God is one, He hears our prayers and will give us the solution to this problem,” Archbishop Nkea declared.

One year later, it remains to be seen if this stance has evolved, particularly given Archbishop Nkea’s reputation as a “pilgrim of peace“, a cause to which he dedicates a significant portion of his prayer life. Earlier this year, during the 48th annual seminar of Cameroonian bishops, he urged his fellow prelates to always “promote peace, through which nothing is lost, and without which everything can be lost.”

This likely explains why, beyond the NOSO, where separatist groups clash with the military, Archbishop Nkea also intends to focus on restoring peace in the Far North region, which continues to be plagued by attacks from the Boko Haram terrorist sect.

As he embarks on his second term leading the CENC, the Archbishop of Bamenda is not limiting his efforts to conflict zones. His roadmap also includes a commitment to strengthening unity within the episcopal family. “Our vocation as a Church is to continue walking together in bonds of love and unity, so that the world may believe in the One who sent us,” he reminded the press during a recent gathering of bishops.

By expressing his concern for closer bonds among bishops, Archbishop Nkea indirectly suggests that divisions threaten the cohesion of the CENC. The local press corroborates this, with tensions having regularly made headlines, notably in 2017 during the funeral of Bishop Jean-Marie Benoît Bala, the former bishop of the Diocese of Bafia, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances. While the judicial investigation concluded suicide, some members of the Cameroonian episcopate continue to assert that the prelate was assassinated.

Source: Sbbc

“Pope Francis never forgets that Cameroon beat Argentina in the 1990 World Cup”

2, May 2025

“Pope Francis never forgets that Cameroon beat Argentina in the 1990 World Cup” 0

Bishops in Cameroon have gathered in the capital Yaoundé for their 50th Ordinary Plenary, but the death of Pope Francis and the conclave to choose a new pope that begins on May 7 in Rome, loom large at the gathering.

At a Mass to kick off the deliberations, the Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon, Archbishop Julio Murat told journalists that Francis’s legacy in Cameroon and the world will outlive his life on earth.

“The very fact of the Presence of all the Archbishops and Bishops of Cameroon here this evening to celebrate this Mass is a testament that the Pope’s Pontificate touched the very hearts of Cameroon,” Murat said.

“In his last testament, Pope Francis offered his life, his prayer, his work for peace and fraternity in the world. He himself preached many times about mercy, and the Holy Door of the Jubilee for Mercy was opened in the geographical heart of Africa, Bangui right next door to us,” the representative of the Holy See in Cameroon said.

That door was opened on November 29, 2015, by Pope Francis when he visited the Central African Republic.

“He [Francis] also promulgated the decree to make Baba Simon a venerable and presented him to the world –a Cameroonian. So his heritage will long last his life, and now we know he prays to us from heaven,” the archbishop said.

The President of the Cameroon Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, added that the bishops were “united with the Universal Church in prayer for peace in his soul.”

“Pope Francis was a father to me,” Nkea told Crux.

“It is Pope Francis who appointed me Archbishop,” he said.

Nkea narrated little instances during which he had to be up and personal with the pope, like buttoning the pope’s cassock, and the pope asking him to take out his phone and record a greeting for the people of Bamenda.

“Pope Francis never forgets that Cameroon beat Argentina in the 1990 World Cup,” Nkea recalls the pontiff joking with him during one of his visits to the Vatican.

“His simplicity was phenomenal,” the archbishop said.

Lay Christians were also full of praise for the late pope. Pascaline Ndifor, a member of the Catholic Women’s Association, told Crux that she remembers Pope Francis for his humility.

“The memory I keep of him is that of humility, and his prayerful nature. This year, we are celebrating the Jubilee Year of Hope. It teaches us the humility and the simplicity the late Pope taught us-it is the way to Christ. That what touches me so much-the simple, spiritual life he teaches us,” she said.

Bessy Bah Awah also remembers Francis for his simplify and humility, recalling a time last year when she was among a delegation of Catholic women who visited the Holy See during which the Holy Father granted them an audience.

“He was very particular about the role of women in the Church. That touched me, and in addition to his humility, I think that he has left a great legacy-a legacy of humility, simplicity and love,” she said.

Maurine Dengo, a social worker, calls Francis “my social worker pope” because of the pontiff’s efforts to bring respite to “the less privileged, the vulnerable, the poor, the marginalized, the suffering…everything that has to do with my profession, Pope Francis was doing it.”

As the world waits for the Conclave to begin, Nkea says the Catholic Church in Cameroon is in unison with the Universal Church “to pray for the Cardinals who are already in Rome, in the conclave, to choose another Holy Father.”

“And as you can see, it is the Holy Spirit that guides the Cardinals in this exercise of choosing another Holy Father for us. And we pray, as the Holy Spirit has done all the time, he will give us a Pope who will manage the Church according to the heart of Jesus Christ,” the archbishop said.

Nkea said that that the 50th plenary of the bishops focuses on the daily running of the Church in Cameroon and to look at the future, especially in this year of hope.

He noted that the major issues preoccupying the bishops are “the socio-economic situation of the country” and the presidential election scheduled to take place in November.

The bishops had already issued pastoral letters about the two issues, and the archbishop of Bamenda called on Cameroonians to take a closer look at those letters in order to “ensure that everything is going to pass during the election month in peace and tranquility. This is what we ask of our people.”

Source: Crux

Ambazonia Crisis: Pope Francis enduring call for peace, now a legacy

24, April 2025

Ambazonia Crisis: Pope Francis enduring call for peace, now a legacy 0

Since assuming leadership of the Roman Catholic Church three years before the 2016 outbreak of the security crisis in Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest regions, Pope Francis has consistently advocated for a return to peace in the troubled area.

Following a 2023 pastoral visit to the Vatican, Archbishop Andrew Nkea of Bamenda, President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, detailed to international press the Catholic Church’s ongoing efforts, under Pope Francis’s direction, to resolve the conflict.

Archbishop Nkea’s statements highlighted the Church’s leading role in seeking a resolution. The Church provides aid to displaced persons, distributing food, shelter, and other necessities through diocesan Caritas organizations, with support from benefactors.

Additionally, the Church has attempted to mediate between the government and separatist factions operating both within Cameroon and abroad. The Church has consistently opposed the use of child soldiers and has emphasized the importance of maintaining open schools, stressing that education is vital for children’s future and the nation’s development.

Beyond institutional actions, Pope Francis has frequently made public pronouncements on the conflict. In September 2019, he expressed solidarity with the Cameroonian people, calling for prayers for a national dialogue aimed at resolving the crisis. He emphasized the need for “peaceful, just, and lasting solutions.”

In October 2020, following a school shooting in Kumba that resulted in student fatalities, Pope Francis condemned the crime as a “cruel and senseless act.” He called for an end to violence and the protection of children’s rights to education and a secure future. In January 2021, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin visited Cameroon to reiterate Pope Francis’s commitment to peace and reconciliation. After meeting with President Paul Biya, Cardinal Parolin conveyed the Pope’s support for peace initiatives.

“I am here to show the attention and solidarity of the Holy Father Francis towards Cameroon, especially at this time when it is experiencing a socio-political conflict in the Northwest and Southwest regions. We wish for peace to return to these regions,” Cardinal Parolin stated on the steps of the Unity Palace.

Pope Francis has consistently underscored the Catholic Church’s dedication to resolving the conflict. In 2022, during the national pilgrimage of Cameroonian bishops and faithful to the Marian shrine of Marianberg, he called for the restoration of “true and lasting peace” in Cameroon.

Like Moses, who did not see the Promised Land, Pope Francis departs without witnessing the peace he fervently prayed for in Cameroon.

Source: Sbbc

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