"A GODLY presence, being present with the power of Christ in difficult times, in trying times, in sad times, but also in wonderful, joyful and peaceful times in people’s lives. That to me has been my priestly ministry.”
These are the words of Bishop George Nkuo (above), Bishop of Kumbo Diocese in Cameroon, a rural area of the country where the Catholic population numbers some 350,000 and most people work as subsistence farmers. However, as well as crops, the diocese is fecund with vocations to the priesthood and religious life, including Cameroon’s only Cardinal to date, the late Cardinal Christian Tumi. While not being from the diocese himself, Bishop Nkuo’s vocation germinated in Cameroon’s fertile land, when a missionary sister who knew the family spotted him working in the fields and promised to find him a sponsor—which she did by way of an Italian family—to help fulfil his desire to become a priest.
“I think that shows God had a plan for me,” Bishop Nkuo said. “That sister sought me out, found me a benefactor that allowed me to go to a good secondary school and then onto seminary. God’s hand was definitely at work, and it gave me a great sense of what vocation means. It is being called to the service of God and being able to touch people’s lives, to give them hope and meaning to their lives. It means preaching the Gospel in such a way that is something real, relevant and that transforms lives.”
Passion for education
Bishop Nkuo’s priestly ministry gave him the opportunity to do this from the outset as he became greatly involved with young people and education, eventually becoming the principle of a college that boasted some 500 students. Describing himself as ‘passionate about education,’ it was in this field that he witnessed how teaching bore fruit and made a difference to people’s lives.
“The beauty of being a teacher is that you form children and later on down the road, you will bump into them, and you realise that the impact you have made in their lives is unimaginable,” he said. “When you are a Catholic teacher, you are teaching people for life, giving them a future and something to hold onto.”
It was through the education system, that Bishop Nkuo struck up a friendship with Missio Scotland National Director, Fr Vincent Lockhart, during his time on mission in Fontem, thanks to their joint passion for education.
“We met many times because he was the schools manager and I was education secretary,” Bisho Nkuo explained. “He was a really great support to us and did really well in his mission. To this day we are great friends.”
A new responsibility
At that time, Bishop Nkuo was still Fr Nkuo, but perhaps as a result of his work in, and dedication to, Catholic education in Cameroon, he was always destined for more responsibility within the Church, even if it was something that took him by surprise!
“I was taken completely by surprise, but I think God’s grace works in wonderful ways,” he said. “I think God prepares you for it in some way. I worked very closely with my former bishop and I learned a lot from him, because I was one of his close collaborators, I was in his College of Consultors, I was the Education Secretary and I learned a lot from him. Maybe that was preparation for where I am today, but I did not in my wildest imagination think that this would be possible for me.
“When I became a priest, I had as my motto ‘be holy in all that you do.’ But when I was turning 25 years a priest, I thought no, it’s not enough to be holy, so ‘God is love,’ became my episcopal motto. I’ve experienced God’s love in my life and because of this I am able to reach out to people to show that God loves them as well in an infinite way. I live and lead because I know that God is love. So my mission as a bishop has been to work with the priests, form them and make sure that they take very good care of the pastoral needs of the people too.”
Enhancing a Godly presence
The aforementioned long-standing friendship between Fr Lockhart and Bishop Nkuo—indicative of the universal Church in action—led to Missio Scotland being able to support the construction of a new Church in the outstation of Ngeptang (above), which will enhance that Godly presence in people’s lives, especially in the midst of violent conflict.
“The conflict is not something that will be over in one or two years,” Bishop Nkuo said. “A lot of people have been displaced because of it and it’s had a terrible impact on the life of the people. It’s painful to see how people have suffered. The only comforting thing is that the Church where I am, has been able to stand beside the people, be close to them and be with them. People who could have helped them have run away, but in all my parishes, the priests are still there.
“I will be retiring in the next few years because I’m 72 and a dream of mine is that the war comes to an end and that many of our people who have relocated, have been internally displaced or who are refugees come back to this diocese and have peace. They have gone through such a difficult time. My hope, and my dream, is that in the next few years peace will come again. Until you have true and genuine peace, it will be difficult for us to grow as a Church and do the things that normal people are doing. So, my preoccupation is the end of violence and the return of peace.”
Those priests serving a beleaguered and displaced people, will no doubt be emboldened by the fact that their brothers and sisters in faith here in Scotland have responded to Bishop Nkuo’s call with love and care, which will empower them to take care of God’s people in their native land and hopefully, as his Lordship says, grow the Church in the future.
“Missio Scotland is helping to facilitate the spread of the Gospel and support us in our mission, and that is a great source of encouragement to us,” Bishop Nkuo said. “Our Church is one of evangelisation and people want to build a House of God to come and worship in, but they need support in doing so. The people in Ngetpang were perhaps over-ambitious in building a Church that they needed help to finish, but it’s great to know that Missio Scotland is providing that assistance because the Church is the backbone to the survival of people in the area.
“My greatest joy in being a bishop is being able to go out to the various parishes and meet with the people, listen to them, attend to them and take care of them. It’s really wonderful, because when you do it the response is fantastic, especially when you go to places like Ngetpang, where people might expect you not to come. There’s been many times I’ve travelled by bike or trekked and it’s so edifying and uplifting to see the response when you get there. I’m sure that will be the case again the next time I’m in Ngetpang.”
Universality
In speaking to Missio Scotland, Bishop Nkuo was keen to point out that something we should always be conscious of is the universality of our Church. He, himself was supported in his studies by an Italian family. However, we shouldn’t look at support as a mere one-way street, but rather something that is always reciprocated. In one part of the world the Church may be richer in terms of material resources, in another it may be richer in spiritual resources and vice versa and one area in which the Church in Cameroon is strong, is vocations.
“We have to realise that the Church is universal and on mission, and being on mission means we support one another,” Bishop Nkuo said. “The Church in Kumbo is supporting churches around the world with the priests that we have, but it’s a poor Church and we do not have much. If you are generous with the financial resources that you have, which helps to form and sustain our priests, we will always be generous with the human resources that we have. You can help build us a Church and we can help you out with priests, so it’s reciprocal.
“I have 160 seminarians for example. I cannot pay for all of them, so I need help. And they are good quality material for the priesthood, they will not only serve here, they will also reach out. Just as the Church in Scotland reaches out to support us from their own resources, we will reach out with what we have to make the Church one and a universal Church is a beautiful Church, that’s how I see it.”
To gain a greater insight into the life and service of Bishop George Nkuo, including his passion for education, visit: https://www.missioscotland.com/blog
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