Aid to the Church in Need: CAMEROON - NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR OUR SEMINARIANS, SAYS BISHOP

CAMEROON - NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR OUR SEMINARIANS, SAYS BISHOP

Posted by Press Release on 25/11/2002, 12:36 pm
Message modified by board administrator 26/11/2002, 2:51 pm

PRESS RELEASE
CAMEROON - NOT ENOUGH ROOM FOR OUR SEMINARIANS, SAYS BISHOP
"Living as we do on the very intersection of the Christian and Islamic worlds, we believe that native Cameronian priests are guarantors of human dignity in East Cameroon - and in fact male vocations exceed female ones here. Hence the urgent need to compete the interdiocesan seminary in Bertoua."
These words where expressed to the staff of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need by Emeritus Archbishop Lambert van Heygen CSSP of Bertoua and Bishop Samuel Kleda of Batouri while reporting on the progress of the new interdiocesan seminary in East Cameroon.
In October this year, after seven years of building work, the seminary finally opened its doors to 75 seminarians for the first academic year in its brand new star-shaped complex. But, with just 72 rooms for the seminarians and six rooms for the permanent teaching staff, the seminary is already too small. In fact they are still waiting for the second phase of the building programme, which will consist of a second star-shaped complex, together with an administrative block. It is expected that by September 2003 some 90 candidates for the priesthood will be studying at the seminary. And so they are hoping that at least two wings will be ready for use by then.
"We don't have enough room for our seminarians", remarked Bishop Kleda. The bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Bertoua have asked him to take over responsibility for the ongoing building work from his Dutch brother bishop, who has just celebrated the 40th jubilee of his episcopate (having been in Cameroon ever since 1947!). Some $860,000 are urgently needed for this building work. So far Aid to the Church in Need has funded the large seminary chapel.
Bishop Samuel Kleda sees his task as above all one of forming strong Christian communities and strong families - through a solid catechesis at all levels. "Happy families are Christian families, in which everyone will strive to fulfil his vocation to a deep personal encounter with Christ". He told how, during his pastoral visits to the villages, everyone comes together to pray, whether they are Christian believers or not. And there are also friendly encounters with the Muslim nomadic people, the Bororo. What is much more of a problem is the influence of the sects and of the Freemasons. "But if we are well formed in our Faith, if we know Christ, then we have nothing to fear, because we are with Christ."
Archbishop Lambert van Heygen Illustrated this by describing the evangelisation work done among the native peoples with the Child's Bible of Aid to the Church in Need. At the recent blessing of a kindergarten the children had welcomed him by singing for 20 minutes from St Mark's Gospel.

Four of the 23 dioceses in the country are in East Cameroon, namely Bertoua, Doumé-Abong Mbang, Batouri and Yokaduma. There are over 230,100 Catholics in these dioceses, among a total population of around 800,000 people in an area of 109,000 square kilometres,.
In the year 2001 alone Aid to the Church in Need provided over $880,000 for pastoral projects in Cameroon.
For further information please contact
Information Service
Ph/Fax No: 02 9679-1929
e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org
Internet: www.aidtochurch.org

Photo
The first of the two "star-shaped" building complexes of the interdiocesan seminary in Bertoua, Cameron

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Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org