Martin Jumbam

Someone robs Cardinal Tumi of his retirement peace.

By Martin Jumbam

If there is one person in this country who had thought he would find peace of mind during his retirement to carefully work on his writings, that person is certainly Christian Cardinal Tumi, the Emeritus Archbishop of Douala. He has been working hard on his second book and says he needs all the peace and quiet he can get to round it up.

The consequences of abortion are devastating.

By Martin Jumbam

The former US President Ronald Reagan once said that he found it strange that all those who are militating for abortion have already been born. They were given a chance to live but are now depriving others of the wonderful gift of life from God Almighty, who creates us all in His own image (Gen 1:27).  Life is sacred from the moment of conception till natural death, and wilfully interrupting human life, even in the mother's womb, can bring untold agony to the woman. 

The Catholic Church in Cameroon and the radio

Martin Jumbam 

In their recent message from the 2^nd Special Assembly of the Synods of Bishops for Africa, that held in Rome from the 4^th to the 25^th of October 2009, the Synodal Fathers note, with great delight, that there is “a veritable explosion of Catholic radio stations in Africa, from only about 15 in 1994 to over 163 today in 32 nations.” They then strongly urge the Catholic Church in “those nations, which still have reservations in this regard, to review their policies, for the good of their nations and people.”

 

I remember Father Paul Verdzekov

By Martin Jumbam

 

“Are we praying to Father Paul, or for Father Paul?” Christian Cardinal Tumi, the Emeritus Archbishop of Douala, wondered as he paid his friend, Father Paul Verdzekov, his last tribute on February 13, 2010. As days blend into weeks, and weeks into months, and soon months into a year since Father Paul Verdzekov, the Emeritus Archbishop of Bamenda, left us unexpectedly, I too wonder with Cardinal Tumi whether to pray to him or for him.

 
 

 

Giving to the Church is a Christian Duty

By Martin Jumbam

A few Sundays ago, Anglophone Christians of the Our Lady of Annunciation Parish in Bonamoussadi, Douala, met to reflect on ways and means of raising funds to renovate their church. I was asked to say a word on “Giving to the Church as a Christian Duty,” and, in a nutshell, this is what I shared with my fellow Christians.

The day Cardinal Tumi was very angry

By Martin Jumbam

Chapter 8 of Christian Cardinal Tumi’s very readable book, The Political Regimes of Ahmadou Ahidjo and Paul Biya, and Christian Tumi, Priest, is the shortest of the 9 chapters that constitute this book. It is tugged in just before the conclusion more like an afterthought than as an integral part of what had informed the writer’s original thinking. And he admits it himself that this chapter was inspired by an incident that occurred just as he was rounding up his book. 

How CRTV Covered the Pope's Visit to Cameroon

By Martin Jumbam

A few days before the Holy Father's arrival in Cameroon, I did what I would, under normal circumstances, not do, that is, take the time to listen to CRTV radio or watch its television.

However, since the Pope's visit was an extraordinary event, it called for extraordinary action on my part; and so I found myself sitting in my office one morning listening to a guest speaker on a CRTV morning French program.

“The creation of more dioceses is the work of the Holy Spirit,” says Monsignor Immanuel Bushu

Martin Jumbam

The Diocese of Buea once stretched from the coastal town of Victoria to Nkambe, where the northern tip of English-speaking Cameroon snugly rubs its head against the belly of our neighbouring giant, Nigeria. Today, however, the Diocese of Buea looks like a shadow of its former self, having lost territory, first of all to what is today the Archdiocese of Bamenda, which, in turn, gave birth to the Diocese of Kumbo; then to the Diocese of Mamfe, and now the Diocese of Kumba-in-the-making. With such loss of territory, one would have expected the present occupant of the See of Buea, Monsignor Immanuel Bushu, to feel a tinge of sadness because his “power” seems to have been considerably eroded. Instead, he applauds the creation of other dioceses from the mother Diocese of Buea as the marvellous work of the Holy Spirit. Excerpts.

Come, follow me.

By Martin Jumbam

On Sunday, July 24, 2007, the Catholic men of the Douala Archdiocese held the general assembly of the Catholic Men’s Organization (CMO) at the Our Lady of Annunciation Parish in Bonamoussadi. I was asked to lead the assembly in a bible reading but I instead chose to reflect with the group on three words from Sacred Scripture: “Come, follow me”, some of the most frequent words on the lips of our Blessed Lord as he began his public ministry.

The Apostolate of Divine Mercy comes knocking

By Martin Jumbam

First carried in L'Effort camerounais # 373, April 2006

The Douala and Buea chapters of the Apostolate of Divine Mercies, a relatively new apostolate in the religious landscape in Cameroon, held a joint meeting on Sunday, February 19, 2006, at the Our Lady of Annunciation Parish in Bonamoussadi, Douala. The nearly fifty delegates from the two branches reflected on the message of Saint Faustina and how to spread this message to the whole country. L’Effort camerounais met the President of the Buea Chapter, Dr. Mrs. Theresa Elad, for a chat after their meeting. Excerpts.