Bishops commit to embedding Pope’s message of peace in Cameroon

‘Peace is not decreed – it is welcomed and lived,’ Pope Leo said during his visit to Bamenda. ‘It is not a matter of words or signatures on a treaty, but of a commitment that is incarnated in a style of life.’

Church leaders in Cameroon launched efforts to transform Pope Leo’s message of peace during his visit into a roadmap for national reconciliation.

During their plenary meeting that ended on 5 June, the president of the Cameroonian bishops’ conference Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya of Bamenda announced that it will ensure the Pope’s calls for peace resonate across society by publishing his speeches in English and French, and making them accessible to all citizens.

Pope Leo travelled to Cameroon on 15-18 April during his 10-day apostolic journey to Africa, making an impassioned plea for lasting peace in a country blighted by war.

“Peace is not decreed – it is welcomed and lived,” he said. “It is not a matter of words or signatures on a treaty, but of a commitment that is incarnated in a style of life, in a personal and institutional way of being … we need a disarmed peace.”

The bishops’ conference also published a “catechism of the electors” to guide voters ahead of legislative elections and have tasked the Justice and Peace Commission with producing in-depth commentaries on the Pope’s addresses to civil authorities.

Recognising that peace is a process rather than an immediate event, the Church is establishing dedicated study groups to draft a specific roadmap for the conflict-affected Northwest and Southwest regions, urging all Cameroonians to reject violence and embrace integral human development as the true path to sustainable peace.

Speaking during the Mass that concluded the plenary, Archbishop Nkea said “the Cameroonian society of today and tomorrow should be one where peace is not a simple slogan but a personal and institutional style that rejects every form of division and violence”.

He envisioned a society where leaders “listen attentively to citizens, where public authority serves as a bridge rather than a source of division, and where those entrusted with power place themselves at the service of the people”.

Last week Pope Leo appointed the secretary general of the conference Mgr Paul Nyaga as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Edea following the retirement of Bishop Jean Bosco Ntep. 

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