Bishop Bushu Presents State of Buea Diocese
Brothers
and Sisters, good morning and welcome to the St Anthony of Padua Parish
Hall, for the first ever Annual Conference on the State of the Diocese
of Buea. Let us give thanks to God who has deigned to make it possible
for us to be here today.I thank all of you for honouring my invitation. I
know you have all made a lot of sacrifices to be here today especially
those from distant parishes and others who might have postponed other
important engagements just to be here. It shows your great love for me
and the Church in the Diocese of Buea. May I use this opportunity to
thank all of you for the wonderful support and prayers for me since I
was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Buea on November 30, 2006.
The
reason for which I have invited you here today is to keep you informed
on the affairs of the Diocese. As the Bishop of the Diocese, it is not
only an obligation for me to ensure that all of you are rightfully
informed about the affairs of the Diocese but also your right as
Christians in this Diocese whom I have been called to serve since my
inauguration as Bishop on January 30, 2007 to know how your family, the
Church in the Diocese of Buea is faring. This exercise is what we are
expected to do regularly as Pastors of the flock entrusted to our care
at the Parish and Diocesan levels but unfortunately, it is possible only
now. Today God has given us the grace to begin and from now henceforth,
this will be an annual exercise.
Before
I proceed, I would like to share with you briefly my spiritual and
pastoral background. I was ordained in 1973 for the Diocese of Bamenda. I
served in Widikum Parish and Bishop Rogan College after my ordination,
before I was sent for studies. I returned from Rome in 1980 and taught
at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary Bambui until 1982 when I went back
to Rome to finish the studies I had started. I came back in 1984 to
Bambui where I was later appointed Rector of the same institution.
In 1992 the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, appointed me as
Bishop of Yagoua in the Far North Region of Cameroon. I left for Yagoua
without knowing where I was going but I knew who was leading me. I was
in Yagoua for exactly 14 years, one month and four days. On November
30, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI appointed me to take over from Late Bishop
Pius Awa. I took over on Wednesday January 30, 2007 as the fourth Bishop
of the Diocese of Buea. It is now more than eight years, seven Months
since I became the Bishop of Buea. So you see I have been a Bishop for
22 years and have some of experience.
I wish to use this opportunity to thank all my predecessors
whom God chose to serve this Diocese and for the great work they did in
Shepherding it to what it is today.May their souls and the Souls of the
faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. As they came
and are gone, so will I and I am conscious of this fact. For me what is
important is that we do God’s will and serve the people whom God has
entrusted to our care by either planting or watering. It is my firm
conviction that instead of holding a candle and saying it is dark, it is
better to light it and not curse the darkness.
My
appointment to the Diocese of Buea from the reports of the then
Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea took a good number of
priests and Christians aback who had expected that someone should have
been appointed from amongst the Priests within the Diocese of Buea.
So from day one few Priests and Christians have seen me as a stranger
and have rejected me and all that we have tried to accomplish as a
Diocese together have not been received in good faith. Any initiative of
mine or innovation is interpreted by this group as downplaying the work
of my predecessor or destroying the tradition of “their Diocese”.
These persons certainly need our forgiveness and prayers.
The
fact that a Bishop has been appointed to one Diocese from another
Diocese is not a new thing in the life of the Catholic Church because of
its universality. So whether one is rejected or not, what is more
important is that we keep focused at the task ahead like Christ who
embraced the cross for our salvation. As children of God’s family we are
reminded to keep working following the advice of St Paul to Timothy,
2Timothy 4:2in season and out of season, for better or for worse, till
the Lord calls us home. What we must avoid in situations like this is
to fall into the temptation of Lot’s wife who looked behind and was
turned into a “bag of salt”.(Gen. 19:26). I am calling on all the
Christians in the Diocese of Buea and People of Good will not to let
this unfortunate situation destroy your positive spiritand love for this
great Diocese.
I
came to the Diocese of Buea expecting to meet a very dynamic Church
considering that it is the oldest in Cameroon. Today Buea Diocese is 65
years old. Any Spiritual Leader coming here would expect to meet a
Church above the level of primary evangelization where things are
stable, set and far advanced. With that in mind I thought what would
be needed would be just more knowledge for Christ’s Faithful to
enable them consolidate and actualize their vocation and mission in
the Church in accordance with the concept of Church as articulated by
the Second Vatican Council. I was soon to realize that this was not
the case. Though the Church in the North where I had worked was still
more at the level of primary evangelization, we hadmade some great
strides asChrist’s lay faithful there were already participating
actively in running the affairs of the local Church. My aspirations
that it was going to be much easier in Buea to build a virile and self
–reliant Church that can attain ecclesial adulthoodwith a well informed
and competent clergy and a correspondingly vocation and mission
conscious laity was far from the reality.
I
soon discovered that clerical Church leadership concept was still
strong. Customarily lay people were mostly regarded by the clergy as a
passive, subordinate group who should obediently submit to their
directives without a voice. I found out that everything about the inner
workings of the Church was shrouded in secrecy. In the mind of the
Church, to regard lay people as inferior and incapable of assuming
decidedly ecclesial posts and functions portrayed a denial of their
dignity, and an attestation of the immaturity of that particular Church,
revealing a defect in building a self-reliant Church after the Second
Vatican Council.
The
very first experience that struck me powerfully was at my inauguration
ceremony as the new Bishop of Buea during the Lunch that was organized
after the Solemn Holy Mass. At the table where I was, some Christians
expressed their desire to deepen their faith. Some were university
lecturers who said their faith as Catholics was at the primary or
secondary school levels. One person said they were already going to the
Archdiocesan Theology School in for the laity at the weekends in Douala.
I immediately said to them that it would not be necessary to go to
Douala if things went well. We would have our own Theology School here
in Buea.
The
second experience which remained very memorable in my mind was when I
requested that more lay people be involved in our first financial
council meeting which hitherto comprised only the Bishop, the Diocesan
Financial Administrator and some selected priests. In the North where I
had served, the Diocesan Finance Council had 13 lay persons and only
three priests. Strangely I received strong resistance from some clergy
within who felt that it was unheard of to bring lay people on board.
However, they eventually had no choice but to accept since I insisted.
During that first meeting the financial situation of the Diocese was
reviewed and it was immediately realized by the lay financial experts
some of whom were bank managers that the diocese had no financial
reserves, no investments and no financial security. The foreign account
that the Diocese owned at that time was making about 10,000 Euros of
interest a year. I felt that if the money is ploughed in Real Estate or
other income generating projects, it will be more beneficial to the
Diocese in the long run. In the North we were working on projects worth
500 million francs CFA at the time I left.
Against
this backdrop and coupled with the fact that Buea was the mother
Diocese in Cameroon, I decided to rework my pastoral strategy. There was
the need to visit the Parishes, listen to the Christiansand see how
they could be empowered to own their faith and develop their
communities. Many Communities were shocked that I would allow them do
certain things just by saying “if you think you can do it then go
ahead”. My visits to the Parishes revealed so many things about the
Christians of Buea Diocese. I could see enthusiasm amongst Christ’s
faithful in the Diocese to do things. I could see generosity and
goodwill on their part to get going. But one thing was certain, they
lacked the knowledge to drive this change hence the need to put
education on our priority goals. God created us to know him, love him
and to live forever happily in heaven. Without knowledge, without an
informed laity whoarethe majority, it would be difficult for them to
take their rightful place in the Church.
In
a bid therefore to take the Diocese of Buea to a self-reliant stage
with more involvement of the Laity in the Church, I set out to continue
what my predecessors had been doing. It will be important to look at the
major areas and see how far we have gone – both successes and failures.
Remember, it is about us doing it together and not Bishop Bushu, or
particular group of persons or the Clergy. It is about our Diocese.
As
a Bishop I believe we should open new parishes to bring the faith
closer to the people (like the Pallotine and Mill Hill Missionaries
did); build our own Yamassouko (the Co-Cathedral project); make our own
Havard in Buea (University Project) and have our own Radio and
Television Station to teach the faith like other Dioceses in the world.
Let us look at the major areas briefly, starting with pastoral
activities.
From
the pastoral standpoint which forms the basis of diocesan activities,
much had been accomplished before I took over office. However the
proliferation of sects especially from neighboring Nigeria has been a
growing concern as every day new faith communities spring up. Studies
show that majority of those moving to the sects are Catholics. The
previous situation was that there were very few parishes while a
multitude of mission stations were left to the care of catechists most
of whom were not well versed with Catholic doctrinal, social and moral
teaching. This left many Christians dumfounded in the face of the sects
with all kinds of doctrines.
The
immediate solution was therefore to make the priests readily available
to all Christians. Christ commanded the Church to “go out to the whole
world and proclaim the good news to all nations”(Matthew 28:19). The
present Holy Father, Pope Francis, has called on the Church to change
its evangelization and Pastoral Strategy. Priests should go out and meet
the Christians instead of Christians coming to the priests. It is for
this reason that I have created more parishes thereby stepping up the
number from 22 to 43. The Churches are still full. So the question is
where were these Catholics worshipping? Take just St Anthony Parish Buea
Town as an example. Today, carved out of St Anthony, are 5 more
parishes functioning very well. The number of Sunday Masses have
increased and some Christians are requesting for more Priests. I agree
with you that more parishes mean more Priests.
The
Priests in the Diocese since I took over has risen from 47 to 104 and
the Christian population has grown up from 300,000 to about 700,790.
Another thing we have done is that the new Parish Priests have been
installed. By this ceremony we expect the Priests to be with their
communities for at least 3 years except for pastoral, administrative or
reasons of grave misconduct. Many Christians in the Diocese had never
witnessed the installation of their Priests and I must say that the
creation and installation of Parish Priests have been electric. The
attendance at these ceremonies has been wonderful and one can see the
enthusiasm and joy of the Christian community.
While
this initiative has proved to be very successful in fighting the mass
exodus from the church to the Pentecostal groups, some priests who have
been in financially challenged areas have been unhappy and have spread
false stories that I do not care about priests’ welfare. If we have to
fulfill the mandate of Christ to “go out” then a lot of sacrifices is
demanded from the Priests. I am appealing to Christians to help and
support our priests to enjoy their ministry and be ready to serve the
Lord anywhere in the Diocese. When a Priest is transferred to certain
parishes, some agitate and the Christians join them to lament that they
have been punished. They even advise them not to take their transfers.
Some even say that the priests have been demoted. They are being
demoted to what level? This is a terrible thing. Priests are spiritual
leaders. Are these parishes empty? Don’t they need good priests too!
Can’t we build them to be great parishes like the early missionaries
did? The Church is now in the hands of indigenous priests. What is our
own pastoral legacy?
I
am calling on all, priests and laity in the Diocese to look at
transfers and appointments as meeting pastoral needs which include the
health of the Priest, the needs of the parishes at a particular time,
the maturity of the Priest, the request of the Christian community and
other diocesan exigencies that may arise such as Sabbatical, sick leave
or priests going on studies. The Priesthood is a vocation of service and
once we start making it a career, then there is bound to be
dissatisfaction when people are sent to places based on one or many of
the factors I have just mentioned. A true servant of the Lord will take
any transfer in joy and good faith knowing that he is going to serve
God’s people in other areas be they poor or rich. Jesus serves his
people through the presence and work of the priest-alter christus,
another Christ.
The
number of religious institutes in the diocese too have increased in
accordance with the Church’s admonition that ‘…particular attention
should be paid to the promotion and cultivation of forms of religious
life which take into account the character and way of life of the
inhabitants, and the local customs and conditions’( Perfectae Caritatis,
no. 19). As of now there are 17 institutes of consecrated life in the
Diocese.
In
view of the implementation of the provincial pastoral plan, there have
been giant strides made. The Small Christian Communities and Gospel
Sharing groups are experiencing a steady growth. The commissions at
deanery and parochial levels are growing steadily. Diocesan councils
too are functioning well and active participation of the laity in these
councils has been great. Some of these include the Finance council, the
celebration council, etc. As regards Diocesan Commissions, the
following are functioning well - the justice and peace, communications,
finance, youth, pastoral, education, religious, presbyteral, project,
lay, celebrations, health and land commission. Prayer and action groups
in the church are for most Christians a source of encouragement and
strength to leading better Christian lives. These have equally increased
in the Diocese and their effect in building the spiritual lives of
Christians is enormous. The Neo-catechumenal Movement is gaining ground
in some parishes which is aimed at strengthening Christians especially
doctrinally.
We
have created CARITAS Buea Diocese to serve as a social pastoral tool
and to promote social justice, solidarity and love. As of now Caritas in
the Diocese of Buea has three ongoing projects: Firstly, humanizing the
living conditions of prisoners in the Buea central prison which
involves medical intervention, sanitation, computer studies, education,
counseling, feeding of prisoners and gardening. The prisoners are also
introduced to embroidery, metallurgy, shoe mending and tailoring.
Caritas also offers judiciary assistance to the inmates. Secondly,
sustainable agriculture and rural development project whose objective is
to promote development in rural areas through sustainable agricultural
approaches and self-promotion. Thirdly, there is the vocational computer
training to foster youth empowerment and enhance their participation
towards the development of the whole society. This is specifically
directed at the rural areas. It is the plan also that Computer
laboratories will be established in each of the five deaneries in the
Diocese.
From
the standpoint of health, there are five health units namely: Mount
Mary Hospital in Buea, Regina Pacis Health Centre in Mutengene, Catholic
Health Centre in Fiango, St. Michael’s Health Centre in Baseng and
Associated Rehabilitation Centre for the Handicapped (ARCH) Dibanda
(Mile 14). These have been and continue to be very essential for proper
assistance of the ailing. There are plans to create new health Centres
in other areas of the Diocese that are in need of health facilities. The
big challenge has been the administrative management of some of these
health units.The BEPHA scheme has been very successful too but only with
regard to the schools. The families are a new point of concern at
present and we hope there is going to be much success with regard to the
incorporation of families into the BEPHA health program.
I
took over the leadership of the Diocese when the media landscape around
was highly suffocated with many radio and television stations. So many
of them were owned by sects whose target was Catholics. There was an
urgent need to provide an alternative for our Christians and so we
started a radio station with a television station in view. We got a
provisional permission from the government and started Divine Mercy
Radio with the view of extending its coverage to the whole Diocese.
However, we were forced to halt our plans to follow the provincial
project. But as the project became slower we went further and procured
a 1 KW Transmitter to extend our own Diocesan radio coverage but the
provincial project has come again very strongly and we have been
forced to wait for the second phase of the project which is to
provide radio stations in Buea and kumbo.
In
other areas regarding social communications, we tried to network our
Diocese through an American network service known as the Evergreen
project but when we had prepared everything the government rejected our
application for a license towards getting that. No money was spent on
this project. When this did not work, we acquired an optic fibre so
that the Diocese can be linked to internet services at cheaper rates
but we have not been able to get enough cooperation from our parishes
to get this running.
a) Schools – Nursery to Secondary
When
I came in, I inherited an impressive educational structure left behind
by Bishop Pius Awa. It was that the administration of schools had
shifted from Parish priests to lay superintendents.Educational
administration was then in the hands of professionally-trained
persons.The catholic Education Secretariat put in a better financial
policy and teachers were regularly paid.Court cases that teachers had
with the Diocese were amicably settled out of court.Teachers were
provided with better facilities and their lifestyles were improved. The
net result was improvement in output in our schools.Schools were
regularly supervised and teachers sat up to their responsibilities.More
Schools were added to the existing ones such as the Molyko, Limbe and
Kumba Nursery Schools; the Kumba, Tiko and Buea evening Schools, St
Anne Girls School Limbe, and Our Lady of Grace Secondary School, Muyuka,
Regina Coeli Comprehensive High School, Tombel. These reforms could not
be carried out in consultation or approval of the other Dioceses in the
Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda because the rapid urbanization with
its inherent economic and social problems in the Diocese called for
unique solutions in its educational framework. That was how we saw them.
Unfortunately
the purpose of these reforms meant to address the social, economic, and
religious needs of the Diocese and itsteachers were misconstrued by few
Priests and Laity who decided to put a strong resistance to the
reforms. Some members of the Diocese and beyond interpreted the reforms
as a way of splitting the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda which had
hitherto been running the same kind of system. Some Priests,
particularly Priests managers became bitter that administration of
schools had been taken from their hands to be given to the Laity. The
goal was to give Priests more time to focus on the pastoral and
spiritual needs of the pupils, a task which only they could do as
ordained ministers. Being a good thing I had to see it realized by
taking some hard decisions against Principals who did not want change. A
glaring example was Sasse College which led me to remove three
Principals consecutively. My argument was that until I got the right
person I would keep changing. And we finally got one who has since 2010
made all of us proud especially the SOBANS by bringing back Sasse as a
School of Excellence and Standards.
Today,
while some Dioceses are closing down schools, those of Buea Diocese are
strong thanks to the fact the current Education Secretary continued
with the reforms and has improved on them. The Common pool system for
colleges and Primary School Districts is functioning well as we are able
to pay all our teachers for 12 months; institutions have bursars and
accountants, fees are now paid through the banks and Catholic teachers
have ATM cards. The contracts of teachers have been modified to ensure
job security, and the Economy of Communion Micro Finance created for
teachers to enable them have access to loans and have a better life is
running very well. In terms of statistics, Buea Diocese has 21 Nursery
Schools and 81 Primary Schools making a total of 102 with 11 Secondary
Schools all having both cycles.
When
I took over, the government had a policy of recruiting most of our
teachers. This was a huge crisis as without good teachers there is no
assurance of quality education. I immediately opened the St John Bosco
Teachers Training College to address the exodus of teachers to the
government. Since its creation so many teachers have graduated and have
helped to solve the problem of teachers. With regards to the need for
the laity to know their faith, I also opened John Paul II Institute of
Theology at Molyko. Now the institute has branches in Limbe and Kumba.
These institutes were created to address particular needs as you have
seen even though our detractors interpreted them as a deliberate attempt
to downplay the work of my predecessor and split the Ecclesiastical
Province of Bamenda since similar institutes were functioning in Bamenda
and Kumbo.
c) University – The Catholic University Institute of Buea(CUIB)
Immediately
I took office as Bishop of Buea, what struck me most was the struggle
by many qualified students to gain admission into the University of Buea
(UB), the then lone Anglosaxon University in Cameroon. I decided that
the Diocese of Buea needed to have its own university that would admit
some of the students so that they could realize their dreams of
acquiring university education. So I put a committee in place and the
project was worked out. In the meantime there was discussion going on
about a University for the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda. I gave
my 100 percent support to that project but felt that the Diocese should
run its own separate from the Provincial University as the mission of
both universities were different. CUIB was to focus on Job creation and
employability. In that project, I did not need to consult any other
authority because “Ex cordae Ecclesiae”, the Church’s document on Higher
Education allows any Superior or Diocesan Bishop to own a University so
long as it meets the National and Ecclesiastical standards. Based on my
word to support the Provincial University 100 %, the Diocese supports
the Provincial University project financially and currently we have
three persons: two of our priests and the Finance Administrator working
there. The current statistics from the Ministry of Higher Education
shows that there are 174 Private Higher Educations Institutions in
Cameroon, with the South West recording 20 and the North West Region 12.
Is this not but wonderful that the oldest Diocese with the oldest
Secondary school should run a university? Is Buea Diocese not capable?
I
have a lot of good news for you about CUIB. Our university is making
its mark and fulfilling the objectives for which it was established.
CUIB was ranked as the no. 1 University in the South West Region by the
Ministry of Higher Education. Currently, there are 1,300 students, with
more than 100 Faculty and staff members. It is well known in the
international world as it is the only African University that is a
member of the prestigious Association of Catholic Colleges and
Universities (ACCU) in the USA. On the 6th of December 2014, it
graduated its First Batch of Seniors and Higher National Diploma
students making a total of about 270. . Of this number, 11 percent are
self-employed; 14 percent employed, 39 percent’ are doing graduate
studies, 7 percent are on work experience and stand as potential
employees to their companies, 11 percent working towards their
admission in foreign universities and 18 percent are still undecided
on what to do. CUIB’s management is solid with a Board of Trustees to
oversee it.
The
Bishop of the Diocese of Buea is the Chancellor of the University and
Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees appoints the
President based on merit and the requirements set out by the Ministry of
Higher Education. By Cameroon and international regulations,
universities are juridic personalities having administrative, financial,
and academic autonomy. This is important because in the event of any
lawsuit, the Proprietor is not liable. Apart from the initial financial
support that the Diocese put into the project at its inception in 2010,
the university hasbeen running on its own financially without Diocesan
support. It has started the process of acquiring a 40 hectre of land at
Mokonje in Kumba, in the hope that CUIB will eventually expand to Kumba.
30 Million has been disbursed by the University to the Chief of Wokaka
to acquire another 5 hectare of land at Molyko. The University has and
is currently putting up more new buildings at theWokaka Campus,
renovated the Molyko Campus, bought two 70 seater campus shuttle buses
to convey faculty, staff and students from one campus to the other and
have for all these years paid its workers based on the Cameron
Government Salary Scale (bareme). On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I
would like to thank the Administration of CUIB for making all of us
proud and training our children to be job creators versus job seekers
with spiritual and moral values who will contribute to the sustainable
development of their communities.
Before
I took over from Bishop Pius Awa in 2007, he gave me before leaving the
Bishop’s House, Soppo a plan for the renovation of the Regina Pacis
Cathedral, Soppo, Buea. This renovation was going to take almost the
same amount of money as a new one. So, I decided to engage instead in a
co-cathedral project for the Diocese. Arrangements were made and the
project was launched with a lot of enthusiasm from the whole Diocese. A
lot has been accomplished. I thank the Priests, Religious brothers and
sisters and the lay faithful for their contributions towards this
project. The big challenge the project has experienced is mismanagement
of the Funds. Right from the beginning we insisted that the Co-Cathedral
project should have a separate account. This was done. It was adminster
by the Diocesan Financial Administrators. Unfortunately, the
Co-Cathedral accounts were poorly managed and every time the Diocesan
committee members of the project met to discuss the finances, the
records were never straight. There was always inconsistency in the
co-cathedral income and expenditure statistics and all receipts were not
available.
This
precipitated my making changes in the Bishop’s house. A year ago I
asked that an audit be carried out not only for the co-cathedral project
but for all diocesan institutions. The audit report was not that
wonderful. I replaced the financial secretary and instructed him to
stay with me so that he would be able to defend the accounts. As I am
talking with you, I know as he stated in a letter left at my table
before departure without my knowledge and approval, he disappeared to
the United States. It is alleged that he is in the United States.
We
also agreed that we should buy building materials in China and assigned
one of our Christians, Mr. Louis Ngalim to carry out this task worth
156 million. Mr. Ngalim has not fulfilled his own part of this
engagement. Currently, measures are being taken to recover our money.
This is what happens when we cannot even trust our own Christians.
Should we give up due to these lapses? I say no! I have appointed a New
Project Coordinator and intend to intensify the financial management
team of the Co-Cathedral project. A team of external auditors has been
put in place to constantly check and direct the income and expenditure
related to this project. A distinct and new account has been created
whereby subsequent contributions are being paid directly and receipts
forwarded to the Bishop’s House. Satan cannot discourage us from moving
forward. I am appealing to all Christians that we should draw a line and
start afresh. For next year, parishes can give 25% of their harvest
money to the Cathedral project. It is my hope that the new team will
restore confidence and accountability.
Since
I took over we have tried to invest in the purchase of lands. The
following lands have been acquired: Small Soppo: five hectares, Sand
Pit, Sasse Village, Our Lady of Grace Shrine, Mevio-Sasse, Malingo with
two houses on rents, New Town Limbe with two houses on rents, Wokaka I
and Wokaka II (for CUIB).
Due
to the world financial crises, subvention that used to come from Rome
dropped drastically and the trend now is that Dioceses must learn to be
more active and independent in their financial management. This makes
our Diocese to depend more on local contributions done by the Parishes,
Institutions, Colleges and Schools. While Schools have done a lot to
support the Diocese financially, a good number of Parishes and other
institutions do not make their regular contributions to the Diocese.
(See Appendix on the current situation).The financial situation shows
that most of the institutions are practically depending on the Diocese
for their activities. In such a system, without proper management and
accountability there is bound to be cash flow problems.
Since I took over the finances of the Diocese have always
been audited. Last year a major audit was done which led to the
replacement of the Financial Administrator. It has indeed been very
challenging for some of our Financial Administrators to manage the
finances of the Diocese.Christians must understand that for the sake of
people’s dignity, there are certain things that cannot be made public.
There is no joy for a leader to make changes all the time. Those
managing the finances of the Diocese since I took over as Bishop have
never been the best.In administration it is difficult to keep persons
who cannot execute the job as demanded by their office. It does not mean
that they are bad priests. Specialized functions need not only persons
with the knowledge but at least the goodwill to run them well. I have
always given everyone whom I judge can carry out the function to do so.
And like any leader, once you have justifiable reasons that things are
not working well, you are bound to make the changes otherwise you will
be accused of condoning wrongdoing. This is the reality as we have it. I
will keep changing until we have the right persons. This is not the
best of situations but the reality calls one to make such decisions. A
way out is to get lay experts run these units but I continue to receive
opposition from some clergy who think that these functions must be
occupied by priests and that Buea Diocese is not ripe enough to have lay
Financial Administrators and Chancellors as we have in some dioceses in
the world. I hope the new Financial Administrator whom I just appointed
will work hard to ensure that the new financial system put in place
will be executed to the letter so that we can enjoy some stability.
The
one great challenge that I have had as Bishop of Buea Diocese is
resistance to change by a few clergy and some Lay Christ Faithful right
from day one who did not like my appointment. This small group has
continued to resist any change that I have carried out in the Diocese.
Whatever I do is openly criticized and all kinds of interpretations
given to discredit my service in the Diocese of Buea. These sentiments
reached climax in October 2012 with the famous Memorandum of Diocesan
Priests and other memoranda that were circulated publicly and sent to
Rome requesting my removal from office. This group of persons has not
stopped their agenda and will point accusing fingers to the Bishop or
those whom they claim are collaborating with the Bishop.
A
recent incident was the Death of Fr Denis Ndang (May his Soul Rest in
Peace), which this group of persons hijacked and circulated all kinds of
false information about his death via internet and social media. I have
included in the appendix of this report a reaction to the debate that
was on the internet written by someone who is not a Christian of Buea
Diocese. The article is titled Bishop Bushu Bashing (BBB). It is very
clear from the analysis of the writer that the agenda of these groups of
persons (both clergy and laity) is to continuously create instability
in the Diocese by circulating lies and foster “hate agenda” amongst
Christians and Priests in the Diocese. This is the work of the Devil. To
say the least, this group has gone to the extent of trying to cripple
the Diocese financially.What I have seen is that they don’t want to give
up and sometimes have become ruthless in their opposition.
Being
the Bishop of the Diocese of Buea for more than 8 years, I am very
aware that Buea Diocese, the oldest in Cameroon, is a great Diocese that
is loved by many both within and without its geographical location. The
Priests and Christians are very spiritual, hardworking, generous and
devoted. Many Priests and Christians love their Diocese and are ready to
make sacrifices to do great things for God. The Co-Cathedral project,
the Schools and University Project, the 19 newly created parishes, the
huge financial contributions made during harvest thanksgiving and other
collections such as vocations’ collection, the rising number of
Christians, catechumens and vocations in the last 5 years, the rising
number of Priests ordained in the last 4 years and the excellent
organizations of celebrations like the Year of Faith, ordinations and
major feasts in the Diocese are living testimonies of the vibrancy and
worth of its Priests, Christians and people of Goodwill. Many
candidates for the Major Seminary and Religious Institutes and Priests
continue to ask that I admit them into the Diocese. For now, I have many
requests on hold. If this Diocese is that spiritually and financially
bankrupt and that its Bishop is heading a “sinful Church” will you have
these great things happening and more priests requesting to come and
serve in the Diocese? This brings me to ponder and ask myself: What is
the problem and where is the problem? Why can’t we accept change? Why
did the Holy Father appoint a Bishop from outside the Diocese? Why can’t
we acknowledge diversity? Why this constant and negative bashing of the
Diocese? Why can’t we set aside our differences and work for the
common good? Why can’t we work together? Why not a common front?
Today
at this First Annual State of the Diocese of Buea Conference I thank
you all for your presence and attention. Now is the occasion for
everyone who wishes to intervene to do. We have one hour for our
interventions. My humble appeal to everyone of us is that we should
continue to go on working as a people of God knowing that we will never
be different from our Master who faced the same kind of rejection from
the Scribes and Pharisees. And like Christ, let us learn to say “Forgive
them, for they not know what they are doing” and keep on serving God
with joy.
Brothers
and sisters, I thank you once more for coming to this first ever
organised Annual State of the Diocese of Buea Conference. It has been a
pleasure and joy to share with you some of the things we have been doing
together for the last 8 years. It is often said “better late than
never”. I would like that Parishes and Diocesan Institutions and groups
should indicate in their yearly calendar a day of this nature where
Christians are given an update of what is going on in their respective
Parishes, groups or institutions. This is part of our duty as stewards
who have been entrusted with this awesome and delicate task to render an
account of our stewardship to those we serve, our masters and
mistresses, lay faithful. Remember that it is not popular opinions and
polls that matter in God’s house. The Catholic Church is not a
democracy. What we have to do is stand by the truth and share the truth
in love and justice. Let us continue to forge ahead and not be
intimidated by a few. Let us continue to work together as a Church
knowing that it is not about our comfort or security but about the
common good, the good of all God’s people in the Diocese of Buea.
May
the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and the Divine
mercy to whom our Diocese is consecrated assist us. Amen.
Bishop of the Diocese of Buea.
September 18, 2015 at 05:41 AM in Local Church
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Father George NkezePHD President of Catholic University Institute of Buea
