Livinus Tal Bam
Three major problems have been diagnosed to be the cause of the sluggish growth of the Diocese of Kumbo. If these problems are probably handled, this will foster the rapid growth of the cathedral parish in Kumbo in particular and the entire Diocese of Kumbo in all domains.
This was the outcome of the Kitiwum meeting with the parish pastoral council of Kumbo parish together with Bishop George Nkuo. In a parish pastoral council meeting of Kumbo parish held in Kitiwum according to Bishop George recently, the AIDS pandemic, laxity in Christian faith and the poor enrolment in catholic nursery and primary schools are major factors that are contributing to the back drop of the growth of the Diocese of Kumbo. Speaking at a high solemn mass on Sunday, March 11, 2007 to end his four days pastoral visit to Kumbo parish, his Lordship Bishop George reminded the Christians of this parish of the rampant death among the Christians, especially among the youths.
While sharing this unpleasant experience with the Christians, he told them not to attribute it to witchcraft, but to believe in the prevalence of the killer disease AIDS, which is what is claiming the lives of their fellow brothers and sisters on daily bases. Considering this factor, something should therefore be done to ensure a way forward to fight out the killer disease” Behavioural change among the people,” he adopted would be the best solution to eradicate this unwanted disease among them. Continuing his exhortation to the Christians at the cathedral, the bishop placed a sharp contrasted statistics of the situation of Catholic education in the Diocese of Kumbo with that of Buea Diocese where he was the education secretary before he was appointed bishop of Kumbo.
According to the statistics he analysed, the 60 Catholic primary schools in Buea diocese against 120 in the Diocese of Kumbo contained more teachers and pupils. According to his presentation, Buea Diocese stood at 900 teachers and an over roll enrolment of 16.000 pupils against only 600 teachers and an over roll enrolment of 11.000 pupils in the Diocese of Kumbo, it was noted to be a piteous situation which needs to be redressed. Considering the fact that catholic education brings up not just academicians but also offers spiritual formation to the children, it should be the unique form of education to help eradicate the social ills of the society.
Talking about laxity in the Christians believe , the bishop noted with great discontent the withdrawal of some catholic Christians to join the sects which are springing up in the society on hourly bases . He called on all to revise and renew their Christian faith and stand strong to it while not risking themselves to fall victims to miracles promised them in these churches. As a souvenir event to his pastoral visit to the St Therese cathedral parish in Kumbo, Bishop George confirmed over 600 Christians. The Christians confirmed, bishop George remarked, will receive among the many gifts of confirmation, the gift of the Holy spirit which will empower them to stand firm in the Lord, fighting as his soldiers and not as soldiers of the sinful world.
He prayed that God should grand them the gift of wisdom to be able to hear with the ear of the lord and to speak with the tongue of the lord, so that they can always listen with great care and respond positively to situations.