Cameroon, located in Central Africa, has a population of over 27 million people, and is home to many different ethnic groups. Christianity is the dominant religion in Cameroon (about two-thirds of the population), with Roman Catholics making up more than half of the Christian population.
Cameroon faces numerous crises that threaten its social fabric, which are rooted in the country’s colonial history. The area was a German colony in the late 19th century, but the territory was divided into British and French regions after WW I. The regions were united in an independent Cameroon in 1961, but tensions remain strong between the minority English-speaking regions and the French-speaking majority regions. Food and military insecurity loom large.
Against this backdrop is Build the Faith’s new church project in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, the home diocese of Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley. The Archdiocese is located in northwestern Cameroon, and the city of Bamenda is the capital of the North-West Region. There are more than 620,000 Catholics in the Archdiocese, out of a total population of almost 1.5 million inhabitants.
Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya stayed with us and celebrated Mass at St. Paul Church last year while in the U.S. visiting the scholar priests from his diocese. “My churches are all bursting, and I don’t have space to keep the young people,” the Archbishop said during a Vatican press conference in October 2018. “And my shortest Mass would be about two and a half hours.”
Both Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley served as pastor in this community before coming to the U.S. to further their studies. Both have spoken about the needs of these flourishing faith communities to have physical spaces to worship and to serve as centers of community in these unstable areas.
Despite lacking a proper church building, the community remains vibrant and actively engaged in their faith, gathering for the sacraments in a small structure that was previously used as a poultry farm. Unfortunately this structure can only hold part of the growing congregation, forcing more than half to remain outside during Mass.
This project will be the realization of a long-awaited dream: a proper church to serve as the center of their community where they can all worship together.
Next Week: The Project