CAMEROON: People have Suffered Enough, Bamenda Bishops Call for an End to Killings

BAMENDA, AUGUST 27, 2021 (CISA)-“Our people have suffered enough and they are tired of living in uncertainty and fear,” Catholic bishops’ members of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference (BAPEC) have said in a statement released after their 71st Ordinary meeting in Bamenda.

The prelates renewed their appeal for the end to the long conflict in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon.

“There is a lot of violence, insecurity, kidnappings, torture, and senseless killings, sometimes of innocent people and children,” they said as they appealed to “all armed factions to stop violence with immediate effect and work towards a more pacific resolution of this conflict.”

While in their meeting August 17-21 to deliberate on reports on schools, seminaries, pastoral commissions and projects of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference, the bishops noted that despite the challenges more Catholic schools functioned in the 2020-2021 school year.

They encouraged parents to ensure that their children go to school calling on stakeholders to create an enabling environment for children to have a violence-free academic year.

The bishops acknowledged with immense gratitude, “The work of the formators and the contribution of the lay faithful towards the training of priests for our local Churches. They exhort the Christians to take seriously their responsibility in helping the Bishops to discern good and quality vocations for our local Churches.”

During the meeting, the bishops announced the construction of the administrative block and hostels with over 140 self-contained rooms within the campus of the Catholic University of Cameroon (CATUC) in Bamenda for the 2021-2022 academic year.