Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin expresses Pope Francis’ closeness and concern for Cameroon and the African continent, in his homily during the imposition of the pallium on Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda.

“The Pope is well aware of the difficulties that you have experienced in recent years and which you are still experiencing. He implores the Lord’s consolation for you, especially for those who have been victims of violence or who, in this crisis, have lost friends and loved ones.”

Those were the words delivered by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in his homily at Mass in Bamenda for the imposition of the pallium on Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya.

He expressed Pope Francis’ closeness to the people of Cameroon, as well as to the entire African continent.

The Pope, added the Cardinal, “joins in the desire for peace and reconciliation that rises from this beloved and wonderful land toward God.”

Reconciliation, compassion, hospitality

Cardinal Parolin arrived in Cameroon last Thursday accompanied by Monsignor Ivan Santus, an official with the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State.

His visit is meant to be a concrete sign of the Pope’s commitment and solidarity, and a call to promote compassion, reconciliation, and healing, especially in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 humanitarian emergency.

In communion with the Pope

“The Pallium,” explained Cardinal Parolin in Bamenda Cathedral, “is a symbol of a special bond of communion with the Pope. It is woven from the wool of lambs blessed by him on the feast of St. Agnes, and evokes the figure of the Good Shepherd, who goes in search of the lost sheep and places it on His shoulders. It represents the power that the Archbishop exercises in his Diocese, in communion with the Supreme Pontiff. It is a sign rich in meaning, which powerfully inaugurates the mandate of every new Archbishop: his new ministry is placed from the beginning under the sign of communion, in obedience and union with the Holy Father and in communion with his brother Bishops.”

With the Gospel in his pocket

“While many voices resound around us; while so many want to act as teachers in our lives,” the Cardinal stressed, we need to give “unique weight to the Word of Christ.”

“For this reason,” he added, “the Pope, on several occasions, has invited us to carry a small book of the Gospels with us. ‘The Gospel in your pocket’ is not a slogan but a spiritual program.”

The effectiveness of the Word

“Jesus desires good for humanity, and therefore frees us from Evil,” said Cardinal Parolin. “Jesus is able to completely free us precisely through His simple and powerful Word: Come out of him! There are no magic formulas; not even strange gestures: it is His Word that is exceedingly effective.”

The Secretary of State underlined that “Evil exists and Christ is able to defeat it. It is up to us to carry on this battle every day.”

Serenity and vigilance

Cardinal Parolin then evoked the teaching of the Apostle Paul, indicating two important themes that must mark each person’s spiritual journey: serenity and vigilance.

“Serenity: because with Christ we are victorious, in our adherence to Him through prayer and the Sacramental life. Vigilance: so that we can discern Evil where it lurks, beginning with our own hearts.”

Seed of hope

Cardinal Parolin then urged the faithful of Cameroon to combat the violence, divisions and fratricidal struggles that afflict the nation.

“He who fights against the evil that dwells in his heart becomes a bearer of good and peace in his family, among his friends, in his community. He thus becomes a seed of hope for all.”

Avoiding the risk of spiritual pride

The Vatican Secretary of State concluded his homily by recalling that after two thousand years, amazement before the Lord Jesus is a precious attitude to be guarded with care.

“We should never stop reflecting on this Mystery, so that we avoid the risk of spiritual pride, of those who are convinced that they already know everything about Jesus, without realizing that He is always greater than we can humanly comprehend. We should never cease to marvel before the fundamental Mystery of our Christian faith: that of the Son of God who became man to set us free.”

The Mass in the Cathedral of Bamenda was attended by a large number of the faithful, offering a sign of affection for Archbishop Fuanya and of joyful communion with the Pope who was represented by his Secretary of State.

Source: Vatican News

The Vatican’s Secretary of State kicked off a week-long trip to Cameroon on Thursday in which he will visit a region blighted by clashes between government forces and separatists.

During his visit from Jan. 28 to Feb. 3, Cardinal Pietro Parolin is scheduled to meet with the local authorities and Cameroon’s Catholic bishops in the country’s capital, Yaoundé, and visit the English-speaking Northwest Region.

Local media in Cameroon have reported that the cardinal will likely use his visit to work towards the resolution of the dispute known as the Anglophone crisis.

Both the Holy See and the local Church have appealed for dialogue to end the strife. One of the Catholic leaders who has played an active role in seeking a resolution is Cardinal Christian Tumi, who was kidnapped by gunmen in Cameroon’s Northwest Region on Nov. 5.

A video published on social media showed the 90-year-old cardinal calmly responding as one of his captors confronted him about his calls for separatist fighters in Cameroon to lay down their arms. To this, the cardinal responded: “I will preach what is the truth with pastoral conviction and biblical conviction.”

“Nobody has the right to tell me to preach the contrary because I was called by God,” Cardinal Tumi said. He was released by his kidnappers on Nov. 6.

The crisis in Cameroon is rooted in country’s colonial history. The area was a German colony in the late 19th century, but the territory was divided into British and French mandates after the German Empire’s defeat in World War I. The mandates were united in an independent Cameroon in 1961, but English-speakers have complained ever since of marginalization by the French-speaking majority.

There is now a separatist movement in the Southwest and Northwest Regions, which were formerly the British Cameroons. Violence escalated in October when gunmen attacked Mother Francisca International Bilingual Academy, a school in Kumba in Cameroon’s Southwest region, on Oct. 24 and opened fire on students in a classroom. Seven students aged 12 to 14 were killed.

Pope Francis prayed on Oct. 28 that “the tormented regions of the northwest and southwest of [Cameroon] may finally find peace.”

In Cameroon’s Northwest Region, Parolin will offer Mass on Jan. 31 at the Catholic cathedral in Bamenda, where he will give the pallium to Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya.

Nkea, 55, was appointed archbishop of Bamenda in December 2019. He is known for his emphasis on family, community, and traditional values.

At the 2018 meeting of the Synod of Bishops on young people, faith, and vocational discernment, Nkea, who was the bishop of Mamfe at the time, said that the Church in Cameroon and many parts of Africa was growing — including among young people.

“My churches are all bursting, and I don’t have space to keep the young people,” Nkea said during a Vatican press conference in Oct. 2018. “And my shortest Mass would be about two and a half hours.”

A 2018 study by the Pew Research Center found that church attendance and prayer frequency was highest in sub-Saharan Africa and lowest in Western Europe. Four out of five Christians in Cameroon said that they prayed every day.

During the synod on young people, Nkea credited the Church’s growth in Cameroon to the alignment between Church teaching and the values of Cameroonian society, and the strength of the family as a cultural institution.

“People ask me, ‘Why are your churches full?’” Nkea said in 2018. “Coming from Africa, the family is a very, very strong institution.”

“We come from a culture in which tradition normally is handed from one generation to the other.”

“Our traditional values still equate to the values of the Church, and so we hand over the tradition to our young people undiluted and uncontaminated,” he continued, noting that a strong sense of community in the Church is something “very important that Europe can learn from Africa.”

Source: The Catholic News Agency

Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin met the Cameroonian dictator President Paul BIYA at the so-called Unity Palace today 29 January 2021.

Local media reported that the cardinal was bearer of a message of reconciliation and peace for the people of Cameroon from the Holy Father Pope Francis.

Cardinal Parolin told state radio and television that “I am here to manifest the attention and solidarity of Pope Francis towards Cameroon.”

The top official of the Holy See said they cordially discussed on a wide range of issues including the socio-political situation in Southern Cameroons.

The Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin is in Cameroon for a six-day working visit. He will celebrate the Eucharist in the Cathedral of Bamenda, during which he will impose the pallium on the Archbishop of the Diocese, Andrew Nkea Fuanya. He will equally visit the “Household of Hope” centre for street children and young prisoners in Yaounde.

The Vatican Secretary of State is visiting Cameroon until 3 February, during which he will meet with government leaders, celebrate Mass in Bamenda Cathedral to present the pallium to Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea, and visit the Household of Hope in Yaoundé.

Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin arrives in Cameroon Thursday, 28 January, and his visit lasts until 3 February.

He is accompanied by Msgr. Ivan Santus, an official with the Section for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State.

Sign of Pope’s care and concern

The visit is meant to show—once again and in the context of the current humanitarian emergency caused by the pandemic—the attention of the Church and Pope Francis for the African continent, a land rich in humanity but marked by great suffering.

It is also intended as a concrete sign of “common, supportive, and inclusive commitment to protecting and promoting the dignity and good of all, a willingness to show care and compassion, to work for reconciliation and healing, and to advance mutual respect and acceptance.”

The Pope called for this expression of concern in his message for the 54th World Day of Peace, celebrated on 1 January 2021, which was entitled: “A culture of care as a path to peace”.

Civil and Church appointments

Meetings with the country’s authorities are planned, as well as various religious appointments.

Cardinal Parolin will celebrate the Eucharist in the Cathedral of Bamenda, during which he will impose the pallium on the Archbishop of the Diocese, Andrew Nkea Fuanya.

The Vatican Secretary of State will also visit the “Household of Hope” in Yaoundé.

The center was founded 40 years ago by Jesuit Father Yves Lescanne to provide assistance for street children and young prisoners.

Source: The Vatican News

Bishop Robert Deeley has announced that Fr. Roland Berngeh will serve as parochial vicar at Parish of the Transfiguration of the Lord Holy Redeemer Church, Bar Harbor; St. Peter Church, Manset; St. Ignatius Church, Northeast Harbor; Stella Maris Parish, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Bucksport; Our Lady of Holy Hope Church, Castine; St. Mary Star of the Sea Church, Stonington, St. Joseph Parish, St. Joseph Church, Ellsworth; Blue Hill Mission, Blue Hill; Our Lady of the Lake Mission, Green Lake; and St. Margaret Chapel, Winter Harbor, effective immediately.

A native of Jakiri, Cameroon, Fr. Berngeh attended St. Augustine’s College Nso in Kumbo, Cameroon, and Bishop Rogan College in Small Soppo-Buea, Cameroon. He completed his clerical studies at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui, Cameroon, and was ordained to the priesthood on April 10, 1985.

Since his ordination, Fr. Berngeh served in Cameroon parishes for eight years before being appointed the pioneer rector and principal at St. Aloysius Minor Seminary Kitiwum in Kumbo in 1993. He served at the seminary for 13 years before becoming the rector of the Cathedral Church of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus in Kumbo.  In 2007, Fr. Berngeh was named principal at his alma mater, St. Augustine’s College Nso, where he served until 2012 when he was appointed rector of Immaculate Conception Parish, also in Kumbo. For the last six years, Fr. Berngeh has served at the cathedral in Kumbo. In addition to those assignments, he has served as a vocations director, diocesan and national chaplain, member of the presbyteral council and as vicar general.

Fr. Berngeh holds a bachelor’s degree in theology and a diploma in philosophy from St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui. He also earned a master’s degree in educational counseling from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, Calif., where he studied from 1997-2000.

Source: mdislander.com

In Cameroon, thousands of Muslims are joining Christians in churches all over the country in Christmas prayers for peace in 2021. For the annual tradition this year, the Inter-Denominational Prayer for Peace group focused on Cameroon’s troubled western regions and COVID-19.

Muslims in Cameroon joined together with Christians Friday to celebrate Christmas and offer an annual prayer for peace. 

Cheikh Oumarou Mallam is president of the Islamic Superior Council of Cameroon and a member of the Inter-Denominational Prayer for Peace group.

This year, he says, they prayed for an end to COVID-19 and peace on the border with Nigeria, where security forces have been battling the Islamist militant group Boko Haram for close to 10 years. 

Mallam says they prayed especially for an end to the separatist conflict in Cameroon’s western regions, which has left more than 3,000 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands. 

“Be loyal to your country,” Mallam said. “Compete for goodness through social work and community service to enhance people’s lives and improve the progress of the society.  Let us be united building our nation.  Let us be united for peace, safety, security, unity, reconciliation and prosperity.”

Anglophone rebels have been fighting in the western regions since 2016 to carve out an independent state from Cameroon’s French-speaking majority. 

The separatists have destroyed symbols of the state, such as schools and bridges, as well as mosques and churches. 

Reverend Father Humphrey Tatah Mbui is director of communications at the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon’s Catholic Bishops.

He spoke by telephone from the northwestern town of Bamenda, the capital of the troubled region.

“If there is any Cameroonian who has not learnt from the 4-year war{separatist crisis} that might, force, violence does not, will not, cannot and should not be able to solve the problem, then I wonder if that person will ever learn,” Mbui said. “What is going on is horrendous and therefore justice and peace should be the message that all of us should talk about.  We have everything to gain in peace than in war.”

Christmas songs play on the speakers at the Our Lady of Victories Metropolitan Cathedral in Cameroon’s capital, Yaoundé.

Far from the separatist conflict, the focus is on another battle – to defeat COVID-19. 

Cameroon instructed churches to guard against the spread of COVID-19 during Christmas day activities.

To fight the spread of the virus, Cameroon’s churches are holding multiple Christmas day services.

Church usher Christian Olinga says they are also limiting access to the cathedral.

He says the catholic church asked him to make sure the government’s instructions are respected – no one will be granted access to the cathedral without a face mask.  Olinga says worshipers and guests must sit two meters from each other and there are enough hand washing basins and sanitizers in the church.

Cameroon has confirmed nearly 26,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 400 deaths since the first case in March. 

A surge of more than 2,000 new infections this month raised concern that holiday gatherings could see numbers increase further.   Meanwhile, Cameroon’s Muslims and Christians are praying for a healthy and peaceful new year. 

Source: VOA

The Chairman of the Cameroon Catholic Community in Germany has described the relationship of the parish pastoral council with the Diocese of Mamfe which was introduced by Bishop Emeritus Francis Lysinge as truly remarkable adding that “The challenge the Cameroon Catholic Community in Mulheim an der Ruhr in Germany faces is not just about reopening communications with the Diocese of Mamfe but also establishing cooperation between the two entities.”

Chairman Julius Ndifor held a very intensive and productive meeting with the Metropolitan Archbishop of the Bamenda Archdiocese and the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Mamfe, His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea.

Speaking to His Grace Archbishop Andrew Nkea in Bamenda recently, the Chairman of the Cameroon Catholic Community in Germany said “the Cameroon Catholic Community is much richer through the contribution that the Diocese of Mamfe has made”.

The Archbishop was very begeistert that the Pastoral Council addressed a letter to him with the intention of recommencing cooperation.

Chairman Ndifor reportedly described the historic meeting as warm, welcoming and positive, especially as the Metropolitan Archbishop was pleased as he received a Christmas greeting card from the Cameroon Catholic Community in Germany.

For his part, the Archbishop agreed to reopen cooperation channels with the Cameroon Catholic diaspora community in Germany.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea paid tribute to the way in which lay men and women in Mulheim clearly took on responsibility to keep the faith in the Roman Catholic Church and added that the Diocese of Mamfe will look at how it can continue to help the Cameroon Catholic Community in Mulheim to mature, to develop and to become sustainable as times change.

Archbishop Andrew Nkea reminded the Cameroon Catholic Community German emissary of the new missionary mode as decreed by the Holy Father Pope Francis which is that of reaching out to young people, fostering programmes of faith formation and development, ensuring that each community is a caring presence in the wider community in which it exists.

By Tanyi Tambendiparrah

As Christmas approaches, a Cameroonian bishop whose diocese has been engulfed in the country’s Anglophone crisis hopes it will bring a period of peace to the region.

“The coming of Christ this year 2020 will have a very significant meaning for the people of God in Kumbo,” Bishop George Nkuo told Crux. Kumbo is located in Cameroon’s English-speaking Northwest Region.

The Anglophone crisis began in 2017, after teachers and lawyers went on strike over perceived attempts by the central government to assimilate the common law and English education systems Cameroon’s Anglophone regions inherited from their previous British colonial government. The two English-speaking regions contain about 20 percent of the country’s population. The rest of Cameroon is Francophone, and inherited France’s civil code legal system, and French educational system.

The strikes were violently suppressed, giving rise to a separatist movement attempting to establish an independent state to be known as Ambazonia.

At least 3000 people have been killed in the conflict, and more than a million forced from their homes.

“It’s nearly five years now our people have experienced one of the horrors of a senseless war, hatred and enormous suffering. It’s very difficult to preach a message of peace, of love, of reconciliation, of justice and of fraternity when daily people are killed, homes are destroyed, pain is inflicted on innocent people and the forces of darkness seem to be overwhelmingly in control,” Nkuo said.

“Yet the birth of Christ assures us that evil cannot have the last word,” he said.

“We need to come up with a powerful message and a prophetic witness that can move our people to a faith in Jesus who gives them love, peace, healing and joy in the simple vulnerable signs that surround the birth of Christ. This is a challenging task and as ministers of the Gospel we must find ways to help our people experience Jesus born among us in our hopelessness and suffering,” he said.

The world was shocked when on Oct. 24, attackers armed with guns and machetes stormed Mother Francisca Memorial College in Kumba – located in the Southwest Region, the other Anglophone province in Cameroon – killing at least seven students and wounding a dozen others.

Government officials blamed Anglophone separatists for the attack, although they denied responsibility. The separatists have insisted that all schools in the Anglophone regions remain closed and have been enforcing their decree by burning schools and kidnapping teachers and students from any institution that defies them.

Carine Bongadzem, a member of the Catholic Women’s Association in Yaounde, told Crux that because “Jesus is justice and peace,” her request is for justice to take its course “so that peace should reign in my homeland.”

Kiven Brenda, another member of the association, said she believes Christ’s coming would be a time of forgiveness and national cleansing.

“My first request is for God to forgive us all, have mercy on us,” she told Crux.

“We have sinned against Him and we are reaping the consequences. I wish he can intervene and calm down heart’s, reduce egos, give wisdom to our leaders, so that we can have peace in the Anglophone regions,” she added.

Tensions in the country have been rising since Dec. 6 regional elections that the separatists boycotted. The rebels threatened any traditional rulers that took part, and at least four have been kidnapped and one killed since the vote.

Last month, Cardinal Christian Tumi, the 90-year-old retired archbishop of Douala, was kidnapped and held for a day by separatist after accompanying a traditional leader of his home village of Nso in the country’s Northwest Region. The cardinal and the traditional ruler, along with nine members of their delegation, were traveling from the capital Yaoundé to Kumbo when they were abducted.

Source: VOA

“We the Religious Leaders of Cameroon acknowledge our neutrality and impartiality while reserving our rights to point out what is right or wrong in any conflict situation, decided to make the following declarations,” they said.

Cameroon’s 27 million people have two official languages—English and French—but the people in the two linguistic groups are divided, adding to the nation’s woes and for the concerns of its church leaders. They also face another affliction—violent extremist groups such as Boko Haram.

The conference agreed that the Cameroon government should consider the possibility of “a mediated end” to the crisis in the English-speaking western provinces of the country, as the only option to end this senseless armed conflict.

They declared their readiness as religious leaders of Cameroon to use their institutions and means to “objectively, faithfully, fearfully and lovingly assist, if not play a front role to bring about a just and peaceful end to the armed conflict ravaging Anglophone Cameroon and other major national crises.”

By Haggai Fung Achuo