AFRICA/CAMEROON - Archbishop Nkea's mission: to bring peace and reconciliation to the country

Friday, 17 June 2022 peace   reconciliation   human rights  

Bamenda (Agenzia Fides) - "The core of the inaugural speech of my appointment as President of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon reflects what I have hoped and dreamed for a long time: to dedicate my mission to restoring peace in the country, not only in the English-speaking regions, but also in the North harassed by Boko Haram, in the eastern areas where many refugees who fled from Central Africa reside, and to unite the Church of Cameroon so that it speaks with one voice". This is how Msgr. Andrew Nkea Fuanya, who recently became President of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, and Archbishop of Bamenda, the capital of the English-speaking regions, tormented for more than five years by very serious tensions between armed separatist groups and the army, expressed himself in an interview with Agenzia Fides. The Archbishop knows well the reality in which he lives, the sufferings of his people and, at the same time, he is aware of the potential of the Church which he has represented since April in the process of promoting relaxation, dialogue and reconciliation.
"The main challenge of our Church - he said - is for people to see us as their main advocates, as those who observe and listen to people's suffering and, by suffering with them, find ways out of the painful situation. On June 10, I was received by the Prime Minister in Yaoundé. It was the first official meeting since I was appointed president of the bishops and it was a good opportunity to discuss possibilities, methods, actions to bring peace and reconciliation to the country. We believe that the only possible way is dialogue and it is not easy for us to be in the middle between the government and the separatists: both would like us to take a stand for one or the other, but the Church is on the side of the people, she is in the middle of the people who are trapped between the separatists on one side and the military on the other, in a situation that creates a lot of fear. In the meantime, we have promoted meetings with all the priests in my diocese (Bamenda is the third largest city in Cameroon, with some 2 million inhabitants) and we will continue to talk about it in order to find a way to peace. We want to show a common path, it is not a question of following my personal vision, but that of the Church. We try to apply the social teachings of the Church, which aim at the common good, the respect of rights, the equitable distribution of national wealth and the development of the living conditions of the population".
The Christian faith is professed by about 70% of the inhabitants of Cameroon. The Catholic Church, with 26 dioceses, represents the majority with around 40% of the faithful. "As President of the Episcopal Conference, I intend to concretize the effective and affective collegiality of the Bishops. It will be an important challenge for us to overcome the divisions within the Conference. My main objective will therefore be to unite the Conference and to ensure that priests and religious do not fall into the trap of ethnic and linguistic division". (LA) (Agenzia Fides, 17/6/2022)


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