A special ‘African’ Mass was held at the Cathedral in Portsmouth in thanksgiving to God for the ministry of Fr. George Ngwa and Fr. Bernadine Nsom, who are both returning to their home diocese of Bamenda, Cameroon. All our Bamenda priests were present, plus Fr. Peter Codd who served in Bamenda for six years, the CMA and the CWA and many others.
Fr. George has served all over the Diocese: at Christ the King, Reading, at Romsey and these last six years at Our Lady of Lourdes, New Milton. Fr. Bernadine, served in Bournemouth, Southbourne, Westbourne and for the last eight years at Charminster.
Both have also had responsibilities in the Diocese as Coordinating Pastors, as members of the Council of Priests and other roles too. The words of Jesus to the demoniac in today’s Gospel fit well this occasion: Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for you.
We don’t at the moment have any Portsmouth priests in Bamenda, but since we are now mission territory, we do have six fine Bamenda priests working in Portsmouth: Fr. Emmanuel, Fr. Elijah, Fr. Anthony and Fr. Gaston. As we bid farewell to Fr. George and Fr. Bernadine, we look forward to welcoming Fr. Benedict and Fr. Joseph.
Recent Posts
In the first audit of its safeguarding practice, the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth has received an overall assessment of ‘Results Being Achieved’ from the Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency (CSSA). In [...]
Bournemouth Oratory Sacred Heart Church in the heart of the town centre serves a demographically diverse community with specific issues around poverty, homelessness and social isolation, which presents several distinct [...]
In last year’s Annual Report, we featured news of the creation of a Refugee Sanctuary Hub at St Peter’s Church, Winchester. The Hub was born out of parishioner response to [...]
Walking outdoors has proven long-term improvements for emotional and mental health, as well as bringing about a reduced risk of depression and higher levels of happiness and self-esteem. Coinciding with [...]
