Catholics in Cameroon, including the Nunciature, Bishops and the Laity have expressed joy and hope ahead of the upcoming visit of Pope Leo XIV to the Central African countty, describing the papal journey as a moment of blessing, reconciliation, unity, and renewal for the nation.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, February 25, the Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV will undertake his first pastoral visit to Africa as Pontiff from April 13 to 23.

According to Vatican officials, Pope Leo XIV will visit Algiers and Annaba in Algeria from April 13 to 15; Yaoundé, Bamenda, and Douala in Cameroon from April 15 to 18; Luanda, Muxima, and Saurimo in Angola from April 18 to 21; and Malabo, Mongomo, and Bata in Equatorial Guinea from April 21 to 23.

In an interview with ACI Africa shortly after the announcement, the Apostolic Nuncio in Cameroon said, “The news of the Holy Father’s visit to Cameroon reaches hearts that are full of gratitude and joy because we are aware that such a visit will bring many, many blessings.”

“Cameroonians are people of faith, people of goodwill, people who welcome the Holy Father with open arms and open hearts,” Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt told ACI Africa. 

Archbishop José Avelino Bettencourt. Credit: ACI Africa

He recalled three previous visits that have taken place in Cameroon, and noted that the upcoming visit comes at a “very beautiful time when Cameroonians look to figures such as the Holy Father to bring blessings to this country.”

“They are prepared, they desire this visit, and they will welcome the Holy Father with the greatest of openness. The message of the Holy Father is one of peace and of unity, of dialogue, of development,” the member of the Clergy of Canada’s Ottawa-Cornwall Catholic Archdiocese said.

Reflecting on his experience in the country, the Nuncio said, “I have visited the Northwest and Southwest regions eight times in the two years that I have been here as Nuncio in Cameroon. I have noticed progress and development in the way things are working for Cameroon.”

“I believe that the visit of the Holy Father will certainly add to the effort of everybody to bring about a dialogue and a reconciliation and greater unity,” the Apostolic Nuncio in Cameroon, since his appointment in August 2023, said.

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He expressed confidence that Cameroonians “are wise enough to know how they want their future to shape up to be.”

Archbishop Bettencourt noted that the Pope “will give young people a new source of inspiration and energy to work on.”

For Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC), the visit is “with immense gratitude to God.”

Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya. Credit: ACI Africa

“Hearing that the Holy Father is coming to visit us in moments of difficulty is very big news for us. It’s like we say, like the rising sun coming to us from on high,” Archbishop Nkea told ACI Africa.

The Archbishop of Bamenda Archdiocese described the Pope as “coming to Cameroon as a messenger of peace… as a universal pastor… as a vicar of Christ… as a father.”

“The Pope is not coming to Cameroon as a politician. The Pope is coming to Cameroon as a pastor to preach the gospel of Christ,” the NECC President emphasized.

He made a direct appeal to those involved in the ongoing crisis in the North West and South West regions of Cameroon, saying, “For the children, the men and the women who are fighting in the bushes, the Pope is also coming to you as your father. He is coming to you as a preacher of peace and a promoter of justice. Be open to listen to his message.”

Drawing on biblical imagery, Archbishop Nkea said the visit is “like ushering us into the age of the eschatology,” where “the lion with the lamb will lie in peace… the leopard will go along with the goat in peace.”

“When this eschatological age shows itself, then weapons of war will be turned to tools of development,” he said.

On the welcome awaiting the Pope, Archbishop Nkea said, “We are going to open our arms to welcome him. We are going to run towards him to embrace him and welcome him with a lot of joy… His visit is a sign of love.”

On his part, the Local Ordinary of Cameroon’s Yaoundé Archdiocese described Pope Leo XIV as “a universal man, a personality that embraces the whole world.”

“He knows how to speak to man,” Archbishop Jean Mbarga said, adding that “his goal is for all humanity to be united in a limitless fraternity.”

Archbishop Jean Mbarga. Credit: ACI Africa

“The Pope’s visit reinforces the good that is already being done. The Pope’s visit also encourages what can be done. But also the Pope’s visit denounces what pulls man, youth, and others down,” he explained.

He emphasized the Pope’s concern for the vulnerable, saying, “I believe that the Pope has a privileged love for children, young people and all the poor… Because all human life is sacred. All human life is useful. All human life is complementary.”

In an emotional appeal to the faithful, he said, “Where the Pope goes, the graces follow. Who here in Yaoundé does not need graces? Who here in Yaoundé does not need blessings? Seeing the Pope is receiving from God these graces that we need so much.”

Calling the visit “more than an event,” Archbishop Mbarga said, “God in the midst of us manifests himself as his chosen one so that the Kingdom of God comes to us now.”

Beyond the Catholic Church leaders, a Priest and the people of God have also voiced their anticipation.

Anne WirnKar said she is “looking forward to this visit with my whole body because it is not every day that a Pope visits a nation and me being alive and around this year that Pope Leo, barely about a year in office, decides to visit Cameroon.”

“For me, it is the coming of the Prince of Peace to Cameroon, and at a time when our country is going through so much, my hope for Cameroon is that as the Pope is going to set foot on the grounds of Cameroon, we are going to embrace peace again,” she said.

Mrs. Anne WirnKar. Credit: ACI Africa

Mrs. Wirnkar added, “It’s going to be a new dawn for our beautiful nation, Cameroon… we can only look forward to enjoying this beautiful country again after the passage of our Pope to Cameroon.”

Fr. Beltus Asanji, a member of the Clergy of Cameroon’s Bamenda Archdiocese, offered a simple but heartfelt welcome, saying, “Holy Father, we welcome you into the Archdiocese of Bamenda and to the province of Bamenda. May you stay here with us, bring us peace, love, justice, and all we need in the Archdiocese of Bamenda.”

Fr. Beltus Asanji. Credit: ACI Africa

Vera Ngu Sielatshom, President of the Catholic Women Association (CWA) in Douala Archdiocese, said the Pope is arriving “in a country like ours that needs peace, and we are reassured that he will bring us this peace because we are in a country a little troubled.”

Mrs. Vera Ngu Sielatshom. Credit: ACI Africa

“We are assured that he will bring us peace in Cameroon and that he will also leave Cameroon with many messages from the Cameroonians,” she said, adding, “We are waiting for his arrival with open arms… All the Cameroonians are impatient to welcome him.”

Source: aciAfrica