Bishop Verdzekov
Bishop Worlock
In 1974, Bishop Derek Worlock of Portsmouth and Bishop Paul Verdzekov of Bamenda initiated our diocesan twinning as a practical demonstration of the Pope’s Vatican II document “Gaudium et Spes” (‘Hope & Joy’).
The document applied the Church’s scripture and social teaching to everyday life in the world. It urged us to treat one another with a spirit of brotherhood – to look after and love one another. The link has been enthusiastically continued by subsequent bishops to the present day.
Bamenda is the capital of North West Province in Cameroon, West Africa. In 1970 the Bamenda Diocese had been created with Paul Verdzekov appointed as the first bishop. Later Kumbo was split from Bamenda and a new diocese was created with Cornelius Fontem Esua as its first bishop.
Back in 1974 the first missionaries from Portsmouth went out to Bamenda to spread the Gospel. Three of the pioneers in the 1970s Father Ron Hishon, Father Peter Codd and Father Frank Isherwood are pictured here.
In January 2006 Archbishop Paul retired to be replaced by Archbishop Cornelius. Auxiliary Bishop Michael Bibi assisted Archbishop Cornelius until he retired in 2019 and was replaced by Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya.
1975 April - Michael Peters, Bishop Worlock and Ron Hishon - at Bambui Seminary
Other Portsmouth priests who collectively served for over twenty years in Bamenda include: Father Michael Peters, Father Eamon Walsh , Father Antony Gatt, Father Tony Day, Father Felix Muscat, Father Joe McElhinney and Father Michael O’Kelly.
Over the years, four Portsmouth Bishops: Bishop Derek Worlock, Bishop Anthony Emery, Bishop Crispian Hollis, and now Bishop Philip Egan, have all made repeated visits and other priests and lay people have also been warmly entertained as guests of the Catholics of Bamenda. In 2014 we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the link with delegations of priests and lay people from both dioceses visiting each other.
In recent years, as vocations to the priesthood have fallen in our diocese, an offer of Fidei Donum priests came generously from Bamenda. As with the original plans, priests have come to serve for up to 6 years. During their time in our diocese, some of the priests have also undertaken education at Southampton University or The Maryvale Institute.
At the present time we have six priests from Bamenda Diocese ministering in our Diocese of Portsmouth.
Fr Bonaventure Ndong and Fr Thomas Amungwa served their term and returned to Bamenda. Fr Bernardine Nsom and Fr George Ngwa have had their terms extended, and are serving in Bournemouth and New Milton respectively. In 2020, Fr Elijah Fru Nde moved from Totland on the Isle of Wight to our Cathedral parish. Fr Emmanuel Rinda moved from the Cathedral parish to Corpus Christi & St Joseph’s in Portsmouth; Fr Anthony Chiatu moved from the Cathedral to Winchester and plans are afoot for Fr Gaston Forbah to move from Basingstoke to Guernsey, once the visa he requires is obtained.
Priests and lay people of Portsmouth are appointed by the bishop to the Portsmouth Bamenda Committee which serves the link on behalf of the Diocese. There is also a ‘Bamenda Portsmouth Committee’ in the Archdiocese. The Committees act as a channel of information and mutual support. Since 2010 a system of formal applications and progress reports has been set up for projects carried out in collaboration with local Bamendan communities.
The committees administer the funds that are contributed from the annual Portsmouth ‘Bamenda Sunday’ collection, parishes and any individuals or groups who have adopted specific projects. The local communities in Cameroon also contribute, often through labour and materials. Over the past 40 years more than £1,000,000 has been raised by Portsmouth parishioners and projects have been successfully implemented in the areas of Faith, Health, Education and Social Welfare. More details on this work can be seen under the ‘What do we do?’ section of the website. We continue to support multiple projects each year.
