The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamenda is the

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

See See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

of the

Ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United State ...

Bamenda Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region, Cameroon, Northwest Region. The city has a population of about 2 million people and is located north-west of the Cameroonian ca ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. It was by the Bull Tametsi Christianarum of 13 August 1970, that

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City, Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his ...

erected the Diocese of Bamenda with territory detached from the Diocese of Buea. On 18 March 1982

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

created, by the Bull Eo Magis Ecclesia Catholica, the Archdiocese of Bamenda, the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda and erected the Diocese of Kumbo with territory detached from the Diocese of Bamenda. Bamenda was by the same bull made into the Metropolitan See of the Ecclesiastical Province with Buea and Kumbo as its Suffragans. Mamfe was later created into a diocese with territory detached from Buea. So Bamenda has 3 Suffragan Sees - Buea, Kumbo and Mamfe. As of Nov 2013 there are 35 Parishes in Bamenda divided into 6 Deaneries - NJINIKOM, MANKON, WIDIKUM, BAMBUI, WUM and NDOP.

History

* August 13, 1970: Established as Diocese of Bamenda from the

Diocese of Buéa In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

* March 18, 1982: Promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Bamenda

Special churches

The seat of the archbishop is St. Joseph's Metropolitan Cathedral in Bamenda. The oldest Parish of the archdiocese is St Anthony's Parish Njinikom, Other significant parish Churches include St Matthias Widikum, St Patrick Babanki Tungo, St Martin de Porres, Wum, St Peter Bambui, and St Joseph Bafut. There is a Mater Redemptoris Shrine in Njangma, Mbatu in Njimafor Parish. Also the Centenary Shrine of the Immaculate Conception at Fujua in Fundong Parish where the first missionaries of the Sacred Heart of the Belgian Region settled in 1913.

Bishops

Ordinaries, in reverse chronological order

* Metropolitan Archbishops of Bamenda (Roman rite), below ** Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya (since December 30, 2019) ** Archbishop

Cornelius Fontem Esua Cornelius Fontem Esua is a Cameroonian Prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of the Bamenda Metropolitan See since 2006 and retired in 2020. Life Born in Mbetta, Esua was ordained to the priesthood on December 29, 1971. ...

(January 23, 2006 - December 30, 2019) ** Archbishop Paul Verdzekov (March 18, 1982 – January 23, 2006); ''see below'' * Bishop of Bamenda (Roman rite), below ** Bishop Paul Verdzekov (August 13, 1970 – March 18, 1982); ''see above''

Coadjutor archbishop

(2004-2006)

Auxiliary bishops

* Agapitus Enuyehnyoh Nfon (2011-2016), appointed Bishop of Kumba * Michael Bibi (2017-2021), appointed Apostolic Administrator of Buéa on December 28, 2019, and later Bishop there

Suffragan Dioceses

Do not confuse Kumba and Kumbo. *

Buéa Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. The city is located in Fako Division, on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon, and has a population of 300,000 (at the 2013 Census). It has two Government Hotels, the Mountain Hotel and P ...

Kumba Kumba is a metropolitan city in the Meme department, Southwest Region, Western Cameroon, referred as "K-town" in local slang. Kumba is the most developed and largest city in the Meme Department and has attracted people from the local villag ...

Kumbo Kumbo, also known as Kimbo, is the second-largest city in the North West Province of Cameroon and the capital of Bui Division. It lies about 2000m above sea level and is situated approximately 110 km away from Bamenda (the provincial capital ...

Mamfe Mamfe or Mamfé is a city in and the capital of Manyu, a division of the Southwest Region in Cameroon. It is from the border of Nigeria, on the Manyu River. It has a population of 36,500 (2017 estimate). It is known as a centre for traditiona ...

Twinning

Since 1974 the diocese has been officially twinned with the Diocese of Portsmouth in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Education

Sacred Heart College, Bamenda Sacred Heart College (abbreviated as SAHECO) is a private Catholic primary and secondary boarding school for boys, located in Mankon, Northwest Region of Cameroon. It is managed by the Archdiocese of Bamenda, and is known for producing some of ...

Sources

- Fr Tatah Mbuy, Archdiocesan Director of Communication

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bamenda Roman Catholic dioceses in Cameroon Christian organizations established in 1970 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century 1970 establishments in Cameroon Bamenda A