We owe it all to Mill Hill, Says Archbishop Paul Verdzekov
Mission to the British Cameroons is a book on the missionary activities of the Mill Hill priests and sisters in the British Cameroons
by American-born, Mill Hill missionary Father Robert J. O’Neil. It was published in 1991 when the Catholic Church that is in Cameroonwas celebrating its centenary. It is prefaced by Archbishop Paul Verdzekov of Bamenda who salutes it as an “opportune” and “indeed providential” work, which will benefit and inspire “present and future generations of Cameroon Christians”.
Mission to the British Cameroons is a book on the missionary activities of the Mill Hill priests and sisters in the British Cameroons
Early Years
This 185-page, 7-chapter book opens with a bird’s eye-view of the historical evolution of Catholicism in the British Cameroons, from the days of the German Pallotines Fathers, to the brief sojourn of French Sacred Heart missionaries under Monsignor Plissonneau, who took over after the German expulsion from Cameroon after World War 1, before zeroing in on the Mill Hill Society’s activities proper. It acknowledges the great contribution of the German missionaries who, although only in Cameroon for a short time, succeeded to plant “seeds [of evangelization] of very high and resistant quality” (p. 6).
Influential Bishop Rogan
Three Mill Hill bishops served in the British Cameroons : Mgr. Campling, who was recalled from Uganda where he was serving as a priest, was here for only a few years (1922-25). His successor, bishop Peter Rogan, another Uganda veteran, put in well over 30 years (1925-62). A man of wit and humour, Bishop Rogan was a poet of sorts who used his writing skill to raise funds abroad for the local church.
His over 30 years in the Cameroons saw an incredible expansion of the Catholic school system under Father Simon Staats, a man who was “unexcelled in his knowledge of education matters in the Cameroons” (p. 65). Many Cameroonians today will no doubt agree with Archbishop Verdzekov that “whatever we are, we owe it to Mill Hill” (p.140).
Change or Drown
Jules Peeters, Bishop of Buea (1962-72), nicknamed the “daring builder”, quickly realized that the Mill Hill Society either had to “face a slow death or go along with the times and renew” (p.139). The numerous schools and colleges it set up throughout the British Cameroons were already churning out high quality Cameroonian clergy and elite, including two bishops, Paul Verdzekov of Bamenda and Pius Awa of Buea.
It looked for a while as if the Mill Hill Society would render “its own existence [in Cameroon ] superfluous” by resisting change. Fortunately, however, it took Bishop Peeters’ warning to “change with the times or drown “ seriously and is still firmly established not only in English-speaking Cameroon , but is stretching its roots into the French-speaking parts as well.
Pictures of Priests and Catechists
English-speaking Cameroonians, especially Mill Hill products, will find this book a treasure to read and re-read. Not only does it give the names and biographies of numerous priests, but also interesting pictures of some of them (Nabben, Schmid, Onderwater, Jacobs, etc.).
In fact, Dr. Bernard Fonlon, of glorious memory, would no doubt have been very delighted with the cover picture of Father Thomas Burke Kennedy in Laikom, stretching out his hand to the sky as if to indicate the limit of his missionary activity. Dr. Fonlon, who had been so powerfully influenced and inspired by Father Kennedy, sang his appreciation in beautiful poetic renditions.
Early Cameroonian Christians, especially catechists (Epie, Effen, Maimo, etc.), those real pioneers of evangelization in this country, have also been remembered in both words and pictures.
This book is indeed the work of a historian. One senses that obsession with archival references, endnotes, footnotes and careful documentation of interviews and eye-witness report. Its greatest merit seems to me to lie in the simplicity of its style and diction. In fact, the language does not call attention to itself at all: hardly any high-sounding words and expressions. In the end, the tribute to the activities of the Mill Hill Fathers in Cameroon is so memorable because it is couched in such simple language.
by American-born, Mill Hill missionary Father Robert J. O’Neil. It was published in 1991 when the Catholic Church that is in Cameroonwas celebrating its centenary. It is prefaced by Archbishop Paul Verdzekov of Bamenda who salutes it as an “opportune” and “indeed providential” work, which will benefit and inspire “present and future generations of Cameroon Christians”.
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