Droppings From The Barnicle: Christian Cardinal Tumi

By Tony Barnicle

Genesis 6.4 talks about “the heroes of old, the men of renown.” The King James Bible calls them “giants.” Every time I read this passage, I think about the time I lived with these giants, builders of a young church and a young nation, Cameroon. One of them is a man I met in 1965. He was a seminarian, home on vacation for the summer. A year later, on April 24, 1966, he celebrated his first Mass in our church, St. Mary’s in the village he grew up in, Kikaikelaki. I had the privilege of making the arrangements for that event. 

It was fourteen years before I saw Christian again. I left Cameroon in 1969 and returned in 1980. On September 23, I introduced him to my wife, Lorraine. We were in northern Cameroon working on a community development plan. He was the Archbishop of the Diocese of Yagoua on the border with Chad. When he heard we were in the area, Christian invited us to stay with him. We had an enjoyable three days together. Another thirty two years went by, and then, on November 3, last year, Christian telephoned. I have instructed Lorraine never to wake me from my nap, unless of course, the call is from a Cardinal!

Christian Cardinal Tumi was visiting the US to raise money for the Catholic University of Douala, a business school that will equip young men and woman with the skills they need to compete in the Information Age. From our conversation, it was clear that he understood the importance of educating women. The World Bank reported the return on the education of a woman is four times greater the return from educating a man. Christian also told me he still has the Chalice I gave him at his First Mass and thinks of me often as he says Mass. Now, can you blame me for offering to help him, in any way I can, to achieve his goal – to help the Archdiocese of Douala build St. Jerome Catholic University?  

Our friends and ex-students on our DROPPINGS list who are living in Cameroon and who know Cardinal Tumi will understand the importance of this University and how much Cardinal Tumi has done, already, to build it. Since his retirement, he has worked to expand the formally all girls College Saint-Esprit into a full University. Today there are 1,500 men and women attending St. Jerome’s. If facilities and faculty were available, 10,000 students could be admitted. Our Cameroonian friends know Christian. They know of his lifetime commitment to social justice and education. I am confident that they will join me in supporting this ministry. They can send their contributions directly to Christian who is now the Cardinal Emeritus Archdiocese de Douala, 9, Boulevard de la Libertè, B.P. 197 Douala Cameroon.

Those living outside Cameroon can send money to Archdiocese of Douala at the Vatican bank, account number 04023-904. The gifts can be routed through the Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, 60 Wall Street, N.Y. N.Y. 1005 –USA.

The President of the Catholic University of Dallas has promised to establish an endowment for St. Jerome. His email is [email protected]. His phone number is 1 972 721 5203. Whatever you decide, I would like to track the gifts this letter and other efforts we will take to support Christian’s goal. We are a team of friends from the Diocese of Jefferson City and Lincoln University. We hope to make a significant contribution to Christian’s dream. If we can, we dream of the day we can invite him here on his next visit to the US. My dream is Christian from Kikaikelaki will stay with us on Barnicle Farms and say Mass at our Church in Mary’s Home.

 

 

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[Sara Lang]

I am Tony Barnicle's niece and I know how very much The Cardinal means to my uncle (he speaks of him often)! Sadly, Tony is entering the final phase of his incredible life journey which will leave many on our little planet missing a tremendous educator, patriot, leader and friend. I think if Tony has any regrets in life it will amount to only one...that his beloved friend has not made it to the tiny community Tony now calls home to break bread and swap stories of time on earth well spent. Thank you to all who have stopped here to share or just read. I wish you all the best.