Bamenda

The diocese was established in 1970 and elevated to an archdiocese in 1982.  It covers over 4,100 square miles of Cameroon’s Northwest Province. Bordering Nigeria to its west it has an estimated population of around 1.4 million people, about 42% of them are Catholics. While many parishioners live in towns, including the provincial capital Bamenda City, the population is largely rural making a living from agriculture.  

The archdiocese is within Cameroon’s anglophone (English speaking) region. Around 17% of Cameroonians are anglophone and live in the country’s northwest and southwest – broadly corresponding to the area administered by the British before independence. 

Over recent years tensions between the Cameroonian government and English-speaking groups seeking their own independence grew into violent conflict. The violence is estimated to have claimed around 3,000 lives, displaced half a million people and compelled another 40,000 to flee to Nigeria. It has deprived 700,000 children of schooling in their home areas and left one in three people in the Anglophone regions in need of humanitarian aid. 

Throughout this period the Catholic Church has been forthright in condemning the violence on all sides and advocating for peaceful dialogue. In many areas, the situation has stabilised enough for schools to reopen, and we have actively supported projects working towards creating a peaceful existence in the area.