The church in Cameroon is growing very fast just like other Catholic growth in Africa. The role of the church in Cameroon can't be underestimated. The church in Cameroon holds the state accountable by speaking out and being the voice of the voiceless. The National Episcopal Conference took place in the nation's capital, Yaounde. The January meeting brought together all the nation's bishops to brainstorm on the issues affecting the church and the country. In the light of the new universal norms issued the Vatican on priestly formation, the bishops said culture must still be in the training of seminarians. Going back to the "Ecclesia in Africa" culture was to play a great role in the liturgy in Africa. Africans are cultural being. Archbishop Samuel Kleda, the president of bishops' conference, said priestly formation today faces enormous challenges, including poverty and the unstable political climate in the country. According to the archbishop Kleda, these challenges affect the ministry of priests directly or indirectly. That condition also shape and condition the way formation is conducted in seminaries. The archbishop said priests exhibit traits which call to question the quality of the training they received:Many lack pastoral commitment,have an attachment to materialism, and a tendency to over-social matters of faith and spirituality. Bishops Immanuel Bushu and Michael Bibi of Buea and Bamenda respectively said it's time to bring changes in the formation of priests. " We have discovered that when you ordain a priest and the priest goes out for pastoral work, you see discrepancies between what he is actually living in the parish. So the church wants us to help the candidates interiorize what they are being taught" Bibi said The bishops are basing their new program on Ratio Fundamentalis Institutionis Sacerdotalis ( the gift of priestly vocation). the new guidelines issued by the Vatican to serve as the basis of priestly formation. But such guidance, according to the Cameroonian bishops, must be rooted in the culture of the people.
"These are disturbing trends." Kleda said.
I have been thinking a great deal about my experience at Reconciliation this past Saturday. I felt an intense and unexplainable urge to go and confess my sins when I woke up that morning. I try to go every six weeks or so, but this was no routine visit to the priest for me. I needed to unburden myself of the numerous venial sins I had committed since I last participated in this Sacrament.
Purest Gold: God's Refining Fire in our Lives »
After salvation, many young Christians wonder if there's anything more to their newfound faith than just the security blanket of "being a Christian." Time and time again, God shows himself as a "refiner," and our lives are as gold. God started leading me in this study to understand what He was doing in my life, as well as in the lives of others.
Picking up my pen to write this column, I couldn’t imagine how time flies. Since the last publication of this column I have gone through a lot, especially the loss of my dear mother to whom I dedicate this article. Not only her, but seems I lost a whole generation of my close family.
How to Achieve Business Excellence »
“Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before Kings; He will not stand before unknown men.” Proverbs 22:29
Spiritual Development for our Youth »
Most of us youth in today's fast moving world are easily thrown off by difficulties and worries.
The theme of conversion is a thread that runs all through Lent, but conversion takes on different aspects throughout the phases of Lent. The first two and a half weeks focused on the interior turning of hearts; the liturgy urges the faithful to reflect and examine consciences thoroughly.
Saint Josephine Bakhita »
Feast Day: February 8
Patron Saint Of: Sudan
Saint Josephine Margaret Bakhita was born around 1869 in the village of Olgossa in the Darfur region of Sudan. She was a member of the Daju people and her uncle was a tribal chief. Due to her family lineage, she grew up happy and relatively prosperous, saying that as a child, she did not know suffering.
Catholics Must Fast More Intensely This Lent»
The Norbertine Canons of St. Michael's Abbey have created this digital Lenten retreat so that you can journey through this holy season alongside them. If you want to have one of your best Lenten seasons yet, join us in our Lenten Program "The Great Fast" - https://theabbotscircle.com/the-great-fast-join
When Your Faith Is Put to the Test - Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon»
Friends, we come now to the Second Sunday of Lent, and we’re on both dangerous and very holy ground with the first reading from the twenty-second chapter of Genesis. The ancient Israelites referred to it as the “Akedah,” which means the “binding”: Abraham binds and is ready to sacrifice Isaac at God’s command.
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