News from Bamenda
Fr Bernardine Nsom, a priest of the Archdiocese of Bamenda, serving as Parish Priest in The Annunciation and St Edmund Campion parish in Bournemouth, shares news of Archbishop Andrew Nkea’s recent Maiden Pastoral Visit to the Wum Deanery…
From 2nd – 6th February, Archbishop Andrew Nkea paid a one week Pastoral visit to Wum Deanery, comprised of the following parishes: Benakuma, Wum, Esu and Holy Trinity (Wum) and Yemngeh quasi parishes. In each of these places, he was given a hilarious welcome enthusiastic crowd of Christians from all denominations. Though it is customary for the chief shepherd to receive such hospitality, the one accorded him was it was his maiden visit since he became Archbishop of Bamenda. Secondly, considering that during the socio-political crises that has characterised the English-Speaking region with lots of loss displacement of peoples, loss of life and property, the people saw this visit as an opportunity to express their gratitude for the church standing by them and giving them a gospel of hope, not only by way of mouth, but also with the charitable acts the archdiocese carried through CARITAS Bamenda and other subsidiary bodies.
In each of his stops and sacramental celebrations, the Archbishop acknowledged the challenges the respective parishes and peoples, irrespective of denominations, had gone through and reminded them that he was an ambassador of Christ bringing them the message of Christ from which true peace and reconciliation can be achieved. During the jam-packed liturgical services, some of which were celebrated outdoors for lack of accommodation in some of the churches, he administered the Sacrament of confirmation to hundreds of candidates and also witnessed to the Sacrament of Marriage. He also used the opportunity to evaluate the state of some of the uncompleted church projects and advised the people on the way forward.
His last stop was in St. John Paul II Comprehensive College, (JOPACC), Wum where he promised to work hand-in-glove with the students and administration to make it one of the best colleges in the country.