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The Diocese of Kumba Installs Newly Appointed Bishop,Mgr. Agapitus Nfon erstwhile Pioneer Auxiliary Bishop of Bamenda, and suffragan to the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda.
It was an awesome ceremony with dignitary officials pouring in from all over Cameroon.
On March 15, 2016, the Holy Father, Pope Francis erected the Catholic Diocese of Kumba in the South West Region of the Republic of Cameroon, with territory taken from the Catholic Diocese of Buea, thus making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan See or Archdiocese of Bamenda. The new Diocese of Kumba is made up of the two civil administrative units of Ndian and Meme Divisions, in addition to a part of the division of Kupe-Manenguba.
The territory of Ndian, Meme and part of Kupe-Manenguba situated in the forest area of the South West Region, covers a surface area of 11.431 Square Kilometers with a population of approximately 562.988 inhabitants of whom 205. 491 (36.5%) are Catholic.
There are 16 parishes, 33 diocesan priests, 3 Fidei Donum priests, and 5 religious priests, 44 religious women, 23 major seminarians and 182 catechists (cf. Agenzia Fides 15/03/2016). The new Diocese is bordered to the north with the Diocese of Mamfe, to the west with Nigeria, to the east with the Diocese of Nkongsamba. The present parish church of Fiango, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, will become the cathedral church of the diocese of Kumba.
The newly installed bishop was Mgr. Agapitus Enuyehnyoh Nfon, was appointed by the Holy Father Pope Francis earlier this year as the first residential Bishop of the new Diocese of Kumba. Pope Benedict XVI, on account of his pastoral solicitude for all the Particular Churches, appointed Bishop Agapitus as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bamenda on Friday, 8th April, 2011.
He was a Diocesan Priest of the Diocese of Kumbo, and before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop, he was the Rector of the Provincial Major Seminary, Saint Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Bambui. He hails from Djottin in Noni Sub-Division, North West Region of Cameroon.
Cameroon Concord's Kumba correspondent spoke at the installation ceremony with the National President of the Catholic Men Association in Cameroon, Mr Roland Kwemain and this is what he had to say:
After the long return trip from Joburg yesterday, I traveled very early this morning to Kumba to join thousands of Catholic Christians and Faithfull to witness the official installation of the 1st Bishop of the Diocese of Kumba, Mgr. Agapitus Nfon.
As the National President of the Catholic Men Association in Cameroon (CMA), I couldn’t miss the memorable occasion.
When we put God first in our life, our choices are more obvious, our thoughts are more focused and our footpath is more substantial.
Am honored and very humble to be a servant in the evangelization of the Universal Church in my beloved country, Cameroon!
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- Jackson Tantoh
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In an article in The Sun Newspaper, No. 0376 of Wednesday May 4, 2016, carrying the story "I'll be killed if I was made Kumba Bishop - Rev. Fr. Nkeze" on the front page with details on page 2, stating that Fr. George Nkeze granted an exclusive interview to The Sun, it is clear that reporters need to be accurate to enable them report events within context.
The said article [Click to see Article] falsely states that an exclusive interview was done with Rev. Fr. George Nkeze Jingwa via telephone on April 26, 2016 while on his way to in Yaounde. According to Fr. George he had turned down several requests to grant interviews to the press. However on April 26 while in Yaounde for the just ended University games, he received a call from a journalist claiming to be from The Sun Newspaper. The said journalist asked him certain questions pertaining to the talk he gave at the Reunion of Catholic Teachers, Celebration of Excellence at CKC Tiko. While not answering the questions, he referred the journalist to read his book titled "Hard Readings From My Original Spiritual Diary: The Effects of Sanballat on Visioning and Transformative Social Change." There was no further discussion with the journalist and this in Journalism is not an exclusive interview.
It is therefore paramount that captions and stories be written within context for the story to be a representation of the exact happening. The big question is: was this a developing story, feature story or that The Sun Newspaper had a hidden agenda? Whatever the case, facts must be clarified.
Following the keynote address by Rev. Fr. George Nkeze on "Institutional Health: the pathway to excellence, the way forward for 21st century Catholic teachers, [Click to see Presentation]" at the reunion of Catholic teachers of the Buea diocese celebration of excellence in Tiko on April 9, 2016, participants drawn from both Buea and the newly created Kumba Diocese posed questions to the speaker who answered vividly to the audience in the presence of various media houses.
The write-up on Page 2 of The Sun Newspaper No. 0376 is therefore not an exclusive interview, but an extract of the questions and answers session with Rev. Fr. George Nkeze and participants at this celebration and should thus be reported in this context. For details watch the Video below.
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- Prince Nfor Hanson
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A pastor has shocked the entire world with his deadly and malicious act after he and his family inflicted serious wounds on a man in broad daylight. The pastor and his family who were arrested after the incident, claimed they burned the man because he was engaged in spiritual warfare.
The pastor and two other members of his family, including his wife, were released on bail each after they appeared in court , on a charge of unlawfully and maliciously inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man.
Pastor Nigel Morgan, his wife Althea, an office clerk and their daughter, Crystal, poured hot water on Cuthbert Victory, a mason, as part of a “spiritual warfare” on April 9 in Marriaqua, St. Vincent, Jamaica. The three are reported to have held down Victory while their daughter poured the boiling water on his back.
A video of the incident has been posted on the social network, Facebook, showing that it took place in a drain along the public road in Hopewell, Mesopotamia, near the home of the pastor.
The 37-year-old mason, suffered burns to his back, shoulders, chest and face. He said he had been told by doctors that he suffered first-degree burns and that the water that was poured on him was mixed with oil.
The trio, appeared before Chief Magistrate, Rechanne Browne-Matthias at the Serious Offence Court in Kingstown. They pleaded not guilty and will re-appear in the Mesopotamia Magistrate’s Court in Marriaqua, on April 29.Attorney Kay Bacchus-Browne told CMC on Friday that her clients have a good defense.
"It is not like what you see going around on social media where it is being said that the three of them joined together. It is not like that at all," Bacchus-Browne said.
Morgan had earlier told CMC that the incident was ‘a spiritual warfare. "This is a spiritual warfare. It is in the hands of God and he will fight and he will deliver," he had said then.
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- Elangwe Pauline
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Br. Angelo Pagano, former parish priest for Sacred Heart Parish Shisong, has been appointed the Bishop of the Diocese of Harar in Ethiopia by His Holiness Pope Francis I. Born 62 years ago at Asmara the capital of Eritrea today, Br. Angelo Pagano made his final vows in his profession on the 14the April 1985. He came to Cameroon as a missionary on June 25th 1988. He took over the post of parish priest from Fr Umberto in 1992 till 2003. His efforts and that of Rev. Father Umberto showcased church buildings, schools and water project for the area.
According to a document emanating from the capuchin Friars minor Kumbo, the Regular superior, Brother Felice Trussardi, Brother Ottavio Zanardin who was in Asmara and later on went back to Milan was instrumental to Br. Angelo Pagano’s inspiration to become a priest. Brother Ottavio Zanardin was for Br. Angelo a model, mentor and friend. His presence in Shisong contributed to the growth of the Franciscan family through the collaboration with the Tertiary sisters of St. Francis, the secular Franciscan order and St. Anthony community.
Bishop Angelo pagano is said to have been at the forefront of the origin of the cardiac centre shisong. He worked in collaboration with foreign organizations to find help for the children in need of surgery. In 2003 Brother Angelo Pagano was called to serve as a vice provincial superior of Ethiopia and was reelected to that post till 2009. Before moving to Ethiopia he was appointed as first as custos of
the new custody of St. Francis in Cameroon in 1992 and was again re-elected to that post in 1996. When he returned to Cameroon after his services in Ethiopia he was again re-elected custos in 2009 and 2011 respectively. He was the one charged with the opening of Buea and Bayon Fraternities Br. Angelo Pagano exercised his main mission in Cameroon as parish priest in shisong and custos.
He also served as president of the capuchin conference of West Africa from 1998 to 2000 and councilor of the same conference from 2009. Brother Angelo Pagano while in Ethiopia from 2004 to 2009 served as councilor of the capuchin conference of East Africa. He was also selected to be a member of the solidarity commission of the capuchin order from 2004 to 2009. He enjoyed good working relationships with Arch Bishop of Bamenda Ecclesiastical province His Grace Cornelius Fontem Esua and the Bishop of kumbo Diocese His Lordship George Nkuo as will as people of all walks of life. He cited some of his initiatives To include the construction of the family hall and pilgrimage to Rome. Br. Felice Trussardi in concluding his document addressed to fellow brothers on the 16th April 2016 invited all of them in the custody and diaspora to celebrate a Holy mass of thanksgiving to God to strengthen Brother Angelo Pagano for the future challenges of his ministry.
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- Yongabi Hyginus -Bamenda
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FOX NEWS:A permit is required before students can talk about Jesus at North Carolina State University, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court.
Grace Christian Life, a registered student group at NC State, filed suit over a policy requiring a permit for any kind of student speech or communication anywhere on campus – including religious speech.
In September 2015, the student group was told that without a permit, they must stop approaching other students inside the student union to engage in religious discussions or invite them to attend group events.
“It’s an amazingly broad speech restriction, Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Tyson Langhofer told me. “Public universities are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas, not places where students need a permit just to exercise their constitutionally protected freedoms.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is a law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases. They allege the Christian group has been singled out by the university.
“The University has not restricted the ability of other students and student groups to engage in expressive activity,” the lawsuit states. “Grace has witnessed other students, student groups and off-campus groups handing out literature either without a permit or outside of the area reserved by their table permit.”
A university spokesperson did not return my calls seeking comment.
NC State’s rules were so draconian that the Christians were not even allowed to step from behind their table in the student union.
“Colleges are supposed to be places where ideas are freely shared – not gagged,” Grace Christian Life President Hannalee Alrutz told me. “The only permit a student needs to speak on campus is the First Amendment.”
It’s true that the university does regulate student speech – written, oral or graphic.
ADF points to Regulation 07.25.12 that “requires a permit for any form of commercial or non-commercial speech, which the policy broadly defines as ‘any distribution of leaflets, brochures, or other written material, or oral speech to a passersby (sic)…’”
“The policy specifics that any person ‘wishing to conduct any form of solicitation on University premises must have the written permission of the Student Involvement (Office) in advance,” ADF noted.
According to the lawsuit, a university official sent an email to another official concerned about the Christian club.
“There is an individual named Tommy who works for Grace who is essentially soliciting throughout the building,” the email reads. “He walks up to a single person or duo of persons, starts with a hello and then starts the conversation into religion, ending with giving them a card.”
The email goes on to explain how they’ve stopped other groups from engaging in similar behavior in order to “create that inclusive, welcoming environment.”
In other words, the only way to be truly inclusive and welcoming is to shut down the Christians and shove them into a closet.
The lawsuit also provides some context on the university’s attitude towards Christian ministry during the time that Grace came under attack.
Grace was a member of Chaplain’s Cooperative Ministry, an independent, interfaith organization that supported individual campus ministries and planned jointly sponsored interfaith programs.
In October 2015, a university official met with the CCM to advise the group “on the speech restrictions imposed by the Speech Permit Policy.”
Solicitation is not allowed when conversation is initiated under one pretense different from the intended purpose…inviting involvement in a certain ministry,” the university official said in written minutes of the meeting.
In November 2015, the university dissolved its relationship with CCM because “the current environment of diversity and faith traditions within the university is not shown or mirrored well within CCM as it currently exists.”
The lawsuit did not elaborate on the problematic “faith traditions” -- but typically that means “Evangelical Christians.”
ADF tried unsuccessfully to convince NC State to drop its unconstitutional speech policies – but they refused – hence the lawsuit.
“The courts have well established that a public university can’t require permits in this manner for this kind of speech – and certainly can’t enforce such rules selectively,” ADF Senior Counsel David Hacker said. “Unconstitutional censorship is bad enough, but giving university officials complete discretion to decide when and where to engage in silence students makes the violation even worse.”
Kudos to Grace Christian Life for standing up to a bunch of academic bullies who want to silence Christian voices. And thank goodness for bold believers like Miss Alrutz.
“I think this is an attack on my liberty as a citizen of the United States,” she told me – warning that every freedom-loving American should be concerned.
“If they could do it to us – they could do it to anybody,” she said.
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- Elangwe Pauline
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The Lagos State Government on Tuesday arraigned the Trustees of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and two engineers who constructed the collapsed six-storey building within the premises of the church before a Lagos High Court in Ikeja on 111 counts criminal charge bordering on manslaughter and failure to obtain relevant building approval.
The building which collapsed onSeptember 12, 2014 within the premises of the church in Ikotun area of Lagos had led to the death of 116 persons, most foreign nationals from South Africa.
The accused were arraigned before Justice Lateef Lawal-Akapo despite spirited efforts by the defence team to impress it on the court to reschedule the arraignment.
The two engineers who constructed the collapsed building – Messrs Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun and their companies – Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company and Jandy Trust Limited were also arraigned alongside the trustees.
The State Government, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adeniji Kazeem had filed the criminal charge against the accused persons since September, 2015 containing but the arraignment could not hold owing to several applications filed by the defence team challenging the competence of the charges.
But at the resumed hearing on Tuesday, the accused persons were specifically arraigned on charges bordering on failure to obtain building approval contrary to Section 75 of the Urban and Regional Planning Law of Lagos State 2010 and involuntary manslaughter causing death contrary to Section 222 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2011.
Since the charges were filed, the defendants had deployed several tactics to stall their arraignment by filing several applications including the instant applications which was dismissed by Justice Lawal-Akapo to pave way for the arraignment.
The lead counsel representing the defendants had made several efforts to convince the court not to proceed with the arraignment, but same was rejected by the court.
On his part, Chief Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) representing SCOAN argued that it would be improper for the court to proceed with the arraignment, since the business of the day was for ruling, while Chief E. L. Akpofure (SAN) representing Hardrock Construction Company said he would not be able to proceed because he just lost his mother
Mrs. Titilola Akinlawon (SAN) and Olalekan Ojo who represented the 3rd-5th defendants also aligned themselves with the argument canvassed by Fagbemi.
Justice Lawal-Akapo, however, overruled them and ordered that the charges be read in court to the accused persons, noting that criminal trials are to be heard expeditiously in line with Section 8 of the National Judicial Policy and that there was nothing stopping him from proceeding with arraignment.
The defendants in the suit are: the Registered Trustees of Synagogue Church of All Nation (SCOAN), Hardrock Construction and Engineering Company, Jadny Trust Limited, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun.
Those in court for the arraignment included the representative of the SCOAN Trustees, Mr. Niyi Jegede, Oladele Ogundeji and Akinbela Fatiregun who equally represented their companies.
They all pleaded not guilty after the charges were read to them, while the Prosecution team led by Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Mrs. Idowu Alakija applied for the defendants who are not corporate bodies to be reminded in prison custody.
Based on the DPP’s application, the court ordered that Ogundeji and Fatiregun be remanded in Kirikiri prison pending trial.
The matter was subsequently adjourned to May 19th, 20th, 23rd, June 1st, 2nd and 3rd for trial.
Correction: This story has been corrected to reflect that it was the two engineers who were remanded not the trustees.
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- Simon Ateba
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