Cardinal Sarah Urges 12 Newly Ordained Catholic Priests in Obala Diocese, Cameroon, to “be attentive to the flock”

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“To be a Priest is to become Jesus Christ himself. It means extending his saving presence among mankind. It means striving every day to bring Jesus' suffering and death to our lives, and to radiate his presence,” Cardinal Sarah said during the April 5 Priestly Ordination event. 

Priests have the role of facilitating the recognition of God as critical to the world in general and to the human person in person, the Cardinal said. 

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To be a Priest, he explained, “means restoring God's central place in the world, for a world without God is a world without hope. The Priest makes God visible; the Priest is the sign that reminds us of God's primacy in a world that is increasingly frivolous, indifferent and even hostile to Jesus Christ, his Gospel and his Church.”

The Cardinal, who arrived in Cameroon on Tuesday, April 2 for a weeklong visit further said, “The priesthood was instituted to preach the Gospel and restore communion between God and man through the Eucharistic sacrifice and prayer. The Priesthood has its deepest source in the supreme and exclusive love of Christ.”

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“Shepherding my sheep is indeed an act of love. Only if we love Jesus Christ exclusively do we have the authority and responsibility to shepherd God's people,” Cardinal Sarah said.

It is in following the example of Jesus Christ, who gave “His whole life for the care of His sheep that we confirm that Priests love God with all their heart, soul and strength,” the 78-year-old Cardinal, who started his Episcopal Ministry in December 1979 as Archbishop of Guinea’s Conakry Archdiocese said.

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Priestly life “manifests and demands a very great love for the Lord and for souls. The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus,” he emphasized.

“You don't have the right to accept the sacrament of ordination if you don't love Jesus Christ exclusively,” he told the 12 Priests-elect, and encouraging them to cherish the Bible, added, “But to love is also to love his word, to contemplate it attentively and to nourish oneself daily, hence the importance of presenting the Priest as one who meditates on the word of God daily.”

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Cardinal Sarah emphasized, “It's true that meditating on God's word is an important and fundamental task for God's Priest. The Priest is obliged to do everything in his power to let Christ shine through him.”

Through Priestly ordination, the Cardinal said, “an anthological transformation will take place within you, and you will truly become Christ Himself. When we see you, we must be able to see Christ; hearing you, we must be able to hear Christ.”

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“From now on you belong absolutely to God; you are consecrated to God because you are Christ, and Christ is God's. Your only possession, your only wealth, is God,” he further said, adding, “Priests must imitate and embody the poverty of Jesus Christ, the son of man who had nowhere to lay his head.”

He went on to call upon the faithful to help the new Priests live their Priesthood, and to accompany them with “silent prayer.”

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“Today, the only worthy accompaniment for these Priests is silence. It's prayer. It's my intimate relationship with God,” the Guinean Cardinal said.

The 12 Deacons, who were ordained Priests included Dany Eyenga Enama, Anatole Bikoua Minfouma, Marti Sidoine Betebe Mballa, Michel Bilong Nguidjol, Jean-Marie Molo, and Rodrique Mendouga.

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Other Deacons included Pierre Simplice Mbengang, Bernard Rigobert Ze, Barthelemy Leger Mvomo Mbarga, Ignace Anicet Nomo ewodo, Marcel Cedric Bilo’o Medou, and Marc Etoudi Engama.

Since his arrival in the Central African nation, Cardinal Sarah addressed the Clergy ministering in Obala Diocese at the St. Anna Efob Parish on the topic, “Silence in the liturgy”, on April 3. The following day, he had an encounter with the representatives of the Laity of Obala Diocese.

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On April 6, the Cardinal is scheduled to meet representatives of the youths of Obala Diocese and on Sunday, April 7, to preside over Holy Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral of Obala Diocese.

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Cardinal Sarah’s meeting with members of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) has been scheduled to take place on April 10. He is to leave Cameroon on April 12.