May Christmas 2024 Help Realize “hope that is active, transformative”: Catholic Bishops in Cameroon’s Troubled Region

 

Cameroon’s English-speaking regions plunged into conflict in 2016 after a protest by lawyers and teachers turned violent. An armed movement of separatists claiming independence for the so-called republic of Ambazonia emerged following the government’s crackdown on protesters. 

School boycotts have become common in the Cameroonian region as have enforced moratoriums on public life known as "ghost towns".

In his Christmas 2024 message, Bishop Nkuo recounts the challenges of the people of God in his Episcopal See, drawing parallels between the world into which Jesus was born and the situation of Kumbo Diocese. 

The context at the time of Jesus Christ’s public ministry, he says “is the same world that we have lived in here in Kumbo darkened by the wars of violence, of frequent kidnapping, and harassment of our people for ransom. It is a world where the lives of our people have been broken or destroyed by the terror of conscience.”

He laments persistent injustices in the Cameroonian region, from exploitative road checks to the terror that has shattered lives. 

Despite these challenges, Bishop Nkuo reaffirms the relevance of Christ’s birth, describing it as “the story of God’s light flooding into the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.”

He highlights the double celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ and the launch of the 2025 Jubilee Year as “significant”. 

“As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, we also turn our eyes towards the horizon of the Jubilee Year of Hope in 2025. This significant year is an invitation to embark together as pilgrims of hope on a journey of renewal, reconciliation, and revitalization in our faith communities,” he says. 

The Cameroonian Catholic Bishop Nkuo adds in reference to the 2025 Jubilee Year that will conclude on 6 January 2026, “It's a call to deepen our relationship with Christ and one another, to embody the love and compassion that Jesus demonstrated.”

“In this spirit of hope, I encourage you to reflect on how you can share the light of Christ in your own life this Christmas,” he says. 

The 71-year-old Catholic Bishop, who has been at the helm of Kumbo Diocese since his Episcopal Consecration in September 2006 challenges followers of Christ to examine their role as bearers of good news, including peace, compassion, and especially hope amid violent conflicts and divisions. 

“How can we be messengers of peace in a world often troubled by war and division? How can we extend compassion and support to those in need, particularly the marginalized and the suffering of our community?” he poses. 

“Let this Christmas season inspire us to embody the hope we celebrate, a hope that is active, that is transformative, and full of promises,” the Cameroonian Catholic Bishop appeals in his Christmas 2024 message.

As Christians, he goes on to say, “our hope is not a passive wishful thinking; it is an active trust that God is at work even when we cannot see it. It is trusting that the light of Christ shines in the darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.”

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“In our world, overwhelmed by war, injustice, oppression, division, and selfishness, the good news proclaimed by Christ continues to offer to us a message of hope,” Bishop Nkuo reiterates in his Christmas 2024 message. 

He continues, “This Christmas invites us to be present to those around us, to listen deeply, and to offer love to them in tranquil ways. It means acting in love; it means loving the person who is lonely, who is grieving or marginalized, and extending the grace and mercy of God through our presence.”

On his part, Archbishop Nkea is urging the people of God to embrace the Jubilee Year as a time for reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace.

“During the Jubilee year, we expect people to reconcile with one another, cancel debts, renew paths of peace, and start afresh as brothers and sisters,” he says.

The Archbishop of Bamenda, who doubles as the President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC) expresses the hope that the people of God under his pastoral care and all Cameroonians will foster peaceful coexistence during the Christmas Season and the 2025 Jubilee Year. 

“This is my wish: that this Christmas will see Cameroonians shaking hands, embracing, and living together as brothers and sisters once again,” the 59-year-old Cameroonian Archbishop, who started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2013 as Coadjutor Bishop of Cameroon’s Catholic Diocese of Mamfe says. 

He implores, “May this Christmas be one that transforms hearts and relationships.”