MESSAGE OF THE BISHOPS OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL
PROVINCE OF BAMENDA TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD
“Console, console my people, says your God.”
(Isaiah 40:1) Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
1. We, your Bishops, gathered at our annual
Meeting of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference in Bamenda from
Thursday, 16th to Thursday, 23th August 2018, wish you all “grace, mercy and
peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lor " (1Timothy 1:2).
2. After having listened to reports from our
different dioceses on the life of the Church In the context of the current
sociopolitical crisis, we bring you a message of consolation and encouragement,
like the message of consolation God gave to his people while they were in exile
(Cf. lsaiah 40:1). We thank you for the Masses which you have offered in your
different parishes and institutions for those who are suffering in one way or
another because of the current socio-political crisis. You have been praying
for those who are suffering on account of the destruction of their homes or
property; you have been praying for the eternal repose of those who have been
wantonly and senselessly killed. You have been praying for all of them without
any discrimination with regard to creed, ethnic origin or political persuasion.
Any deliberate discrimination in such a matter would automatically discredit
your prayer, because for that reason it would not be Christian prayer. You have
been praying for the very many innocent people who have been arrested and
detained, those who have been displaced and those who live in bushes and
forests because of the socio-political crisis. Every one of those who are
suffering or have died irrespective of tribe, creed or political persuasion is
a child of God and subsequently our brother or sister. We want to thank you for
the admirable material and financial assistance which you have offered and will
continue to offer to all the victims of the socio-political crisis, especially
those who have been displaced. We wish to thank you for the heroic hospitality
you have manifested to those who have been internally displaced by the crisis.
3. Our hearts are saddened by the reports we
continue to receive, which show that the situation in all our dioceses is
getting worse. We have been forced to suspend pastoral activities in some of
our parishes and where parishes are still functioning, activities are at their
lowest level. The number of displaced persons, many of whom have fled and are
hiding in the bushes or are with relatives and
friends outside the affected areas or even
outside the country, continues to increase by the day.
4. We have noted with utter dismay and pain
in our hearts the frightening . -r of people who are being summarily and
extrajudicially executed both by -s of law and order and by the “Amba
boys". In all honesty, no one can say tainty how many people have been
killed, since many are killed and d of immediately in bushes, in water, or
simply buried in mass graves. There inues to be unjustifiable use of firearms,
arrests and detention of innocent civilians, destruction of property, burning
down of homes and public utility buildings, extortion and suppression. it has
been a reign of terror and horror and we are living permanently in fear.
5. Even the Church has not been spared. There
has been the brutal and calculated assassination of Rev. Father Alexander Nougi
Sob, Priest of the Diocese of Buea, molestation and violent attacks on Priests,
Religious and other Church personnel, even when these were clearly vested in
clerical and religious attire, talk less of the destruction of Church property.
We are also victims of people who are exploiting the situation for their
personal interests. There is total disrespect of human life and human dignity.
in this difficult situation, our local Church ls sandwiched between the warring
parties. Even in full blown wars, there are laws, conventions and protocols
that should be respected; and Church institutions, particularly church buildings
and hospitals, are considered as sanctuaries of safety for all without
discrimination or distinction. We remain convinced of the role of the Church to
be neutral in partisan politics and to be an instrument of truth and
reconciliation, and of justice and peace in the world.
6. In this crisis, the Lord addresses to the
perpetrators of atrocities on both sides the same question he addressed to
Cain: “What have you done? Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me
from the ground" (Genesis 4:10). God’s Command, “Thou shall not kill!”
(Exodus 2:13), remains valid even today in this situation. Violence generates
violence. As Pope Pius XII points out, «Violence has always achieved only
destruction, not construction; the kindling of passions, not their pacification;
the accumulation of hate and ruin, not the reconciliation of the contending
parties. And it has reduced men and parties to the difficult task of
rebuilding, after sad experience on the ruins of discord. ” (Cf. Pacem in
Terris, n. 162). We, therefore, call for an immediate cessation of violence and
we call on the contending parties to put down their arms.
7. The school boycott for the last two years,
with a threat now of a third year, has had a deep negative impact on children
and families. Schooling has been irregular in the two regions. Some, who can
afford, have sent their children to English schools in other regions of the
country or out of the country. So, it is the children of the poor who are left
to wander in the bushes and forests or simply safe" at home. Many parents
in these two regions would actually like to sendtheir children to school; but
they are afraid of the soldiers who flood our streets e ‘Amba boys’ who
threaten to burn and destroy the schools. We the mission of the Church to give
quality and holistic education to all our n. We sincerely think that the
ongoing crisis has gone beyond school boycott. That is why, without wanting to
compromise or jeopardise the deep aspirations of the people, we continue to
keep our schools open for parents to send their children. We ardently appeal
that the schools should continue to function.
8. In this situation of distress, we should
not forget that our God is a God of consolation and mercy, and he invites us to
console those who are suffering. We, your Bishops, are deeply united with you
in this moment of trial, distress and pain. Do not lose hope. The Risen Lord is
in our midst. We urge all, particularly women who are mothers and co-operators
with God in bringing forth life, not to despair but to stand up more resolutely
for the dignity and sacredness of human life.
9. Once more, we thank you for all the
prayers you have offered since the beginning of the crisis. Jesus Christ
exhorts us to pray continuously and not to lose heart (Cf. Luke 18:1). We,
therefore, invite you, the people of God, to continue to raise up your hearts
and minds in supplication to God our loving and merciful Father, that his will
may be done and that we may find a lasting solution to the present crisis.
Therefore, besides the prayers that we have been offering, we call on all
parishes to organise themselves and observe Friday, 14th September 2018, Feast of the Exaltation of the
Holy Cross, as a clay of prayer and fasting in solidarity with the suffering.
We also ask that we continue to dedicate every Thursday to the Perpetual
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. We have decided that henceforth every
Friday be observed as a day of prayer and fasting; and we call on all Priests
ti celebrate on the same day Mass in Time of War or Civil Disturbance (Roman
Missal pp. 1115-1116). We do all this in solidarity with the suffering and for
the eternal repose of those who have lost their lives in this crisis.
May the Blessed Wrgin Mary, Our Lady of
Sorrows, Help of Christians and Comforter of the afflicted intercede for us.
Given in Bamenda, This Thursday, 23"
August 2018, Optional Memorial of Saint Rose of Lima.