AFRICA/CAMEROON - The Archbishop of Bamenda: "The Church works for peace and justice"

Tuesday, 13 April 2021 reconciliation   peace   justice  

Bamenda (Agenzia Fides) - "The Church, founded by Christ, the Prince of Peace, cannot escape its mission of bringing harmony to the societies in which it lives. Talks began in Yaoundé a year ago that should have led to a truce and reconciliation. Since then, not much has changed, but we continue to pray, to hope and to be that constant reference for everyone in the search for peace". This is how Mgr.Andrew Nkea Fuanya, Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bamenda, explains to Agenzia Fides the situation in Cameroon, in particular in the English-speaking regions, suspended for years in a limbo between independence and unionism in which they proliferate conflicts, estreme violence, poverty and terror. It has now been five years of conflict between the central government and the separatist fighters who, in the western areas of the country, close to Nigeria, are asking to form their own State, the Republic of Ambazonia. The situation has so far caused thousands of deaths, forced 800,000 people to flee, left children without school and reduced to exhaustion an area rich in resources, with three million people in the middle of a humanitarian emergency.
In 2020, new hopes arose when Sisiku Julius AyukTabe, leader of one of the separatist factions, was taken from the Kondengui Central prison in Yaoundé and taken to the national center of the Bishops' Conference, a few kilometers away, to meet with members of the executive and explore the possibility of a ceasefire.
"Not much has happened - continues the Archbishop - since the first talks started exactly one year ago. The separatists in the cells have set certain conditions: they want the military to return to the barracks, for all political prisoners to be released and for the government to declare the end of the war. Steps that are not easy to grant, so things go very slowly. But the divisions that exist among the separatists make everything even more difficult. It is difficult to move forward, to establish a genuine dialogue because every time there are contradicting messages from the secessionists.
In this situation we bent down to pray, in the hope of being able to speak with the 'Boys' (the name given to the various groups of separatists, ed) so that they form a single front and can dialogue with the government, which is united. Those who suffer the most are undoubtedly the people in the middle. People want to resume normal life, but everything gets complicated and everyday life becomes difficult. On April 9, I was returning from Mamfa where I had ordained seven new priests and, at the height of Bali, we ran into a firefight that made the passage impossible. There was a long queue of cars that were blocked for hours while we feared for our safety. The population needs freedom and peace".
The Church, the Archbishop recalls, is constantly at the forefront of the process of dialogue and meeting between the parties in conflict and shows total availability in terms of mediation capacity and concrete support for the peace process. "The Church in Cameroon - confirms the Archbishop - has always been indirectly involved in promoting peace talks. The mission of the Church is that of its founder, whom we call the 'Prince of Peace', for this reason we can never stop talking about peace. But, as foretold by the prophets and in the psalms, there is no peace without justice, and that is why we also speak of justice. Justice is needed for the community: only in this way can peace be reached". (LA) (Agenzia Fides, 13/4/2021)


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