George Nkuo – Bishop of Kumbo – A word of gratitude

+George Nkuo
Bishop of Kumbo

His Eminence Christian Cardinal Tumi,
His Excellency the Personal Representative of the Head of State of the Republic of Cameroon,
His Excellency Most Rev. Elisio Antonio Ariotti, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
His Excellencies the Archbishops and Bishops of Cameroon, Honourable members of government,
Distinguished civil and traditional leaders,
Reverend Fathers, Brothers and Sisters,
Leaders of our Sister Churches and Ecclesiastical Communities here present,
My dear brothers and sister in Christ,

God is love (1 Jn. 4: 16) God is alive. With these words I greet with great joy and gratitude all of you gathered here from all corners of our nation and beyond to celebrate with us.

I salute all my brother Bishops and sincerely thank them for coming to welcome me to the Episcopal family of Cameroon. I greet my brother priests you men and women religious church workers and catechists. I greet you members of the lay faithful all immersed in the great task of building the kingdom of God in every area of life. I salute in a very special way the family of Catholic Education, especially all the Catholic education secretaries coming from all over Cameroon.
They have been for many years my very close companions in championing the course of education in Cameroon. With great affection I greet the personal representative of the Head of State and all the civil and traditional personalities of our nation here present.
With respect and deference, I wish to express acknowledgement to the President of the Republic, His Excellency Paul Biya, represented here by the Assistant Secretary General at the Presidency of the Republic. I greet all the administrative, traditional, military and judicial authorities as well as all you who have come from far and near, even from out of Cameroon.
Your presence speaks volumes. I am sincerely grateful for your massive presence and for the assistance that your services contributed in the success of this event.
At a recent Episcopal Ordination of an Irish Bishop in Enniscorsthy, the new Bishop quoted an African proverb which says “It takes a whole village to raise a child.” In a sense he was saying that it takes a whole nation to raise a Bishop.
So today it is not just about me alone but about the Church in Cameroon. It is about all of us, it is about that which binds us together in our common faith in God. Today is about the Diocese of Kumbo, today is about the Diocese of Buea where I have served as a priest for 25 years. Today is about the Kom people where I was born and introduced into the Catholic Faith. Today is about the Church in the Bamenda Ecclesiastical Province where I belong.
A vocation does not come flat packed. It grows out of a context of faith and worship. Today is about the Shisong Convent from where I walked out with my zinc box on my head on the 4th of September 1967 to Bishop Rogan College. Little did I know that providence would bring me back to where I started off the journey to the priesthood to become today the Shepard of the Church that is in Kumbo. Today I invite you to join me to thank God for the marvel?s he has done for us.
I wish to sincerely thank the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI through his personal representative, His Excellency most Reverend Elisio Antonio Ariotti, Apostolic Nuncio to Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, for choosing me unworthy as I am, to become the second Local Ordinary of this Diocese of Kumbo.
Today is about the founding Father of this diocese, His Grace Archbishop Cornelius Fontem Esua, with great vision, insight and energy with which he gave his heart to Kumbo Diocese and has built up a flourishing and vibrant church he has worked so indefatigably to put in place formidable structures to help carry out in a modern way the work of evangelisation in Kumbo. He has left me with a very special legacy for which we thank him.
I, too, that I start in this service that is proper to the successor of the apostles I wish to with force affirm my commitment to follow in his footsteps. The greatest compliment we can pay him is to continue his work of building and transforming the hearts of the people of God in this diocese.
Today is about the people of this diocese all of them from the banks of the river Bui to the River beds of the Donga-Mantung. It is about our journey in the faith, where we have come from and where we will go in the future. Today is about the priests of this diocese, most of them young and determined, who together with me will be at the frontline of the great challenges of the new evangelisation, in this third millennium.
Today is about the religious the generous hearted consecrated men and women who have who have made huge contributions to the diocese and who are still quietly bearing witness to Jesus through their various charisms Today on this birthday of our lady, principal patroness of the diocese of Kumbo, I wish to remember in a special way all the women of the catholic women association in Cameroon.
For many years I have journeyed with them as their chaplain. They too are part of my Catholic heritage and I thank God for them too. Through Mary, to Jesus!
Truly today is a great day for the young people of this Church in Kumbo who have received great care and attention. You are the Church of the future I know what young people can do as I have worked with them in the diocese of Buea in the last twenty five years as a priest. You are the greatest asset and treasure that we have.
I have great belief and confidence that in handing over the baton of faith to you, that it will be in good hands. I invite you to join me to use your natural exuberance, energy, and enthusiasm to enliven our church your faith is a gift like pure gold and will enrich your life with a sense of purpose and direction. My hope and prayer is that it will lead you to a deep and life giving relationship with God.
Today is about people who for what ever reason have continued to work with us here in Kumbo we remember all our missionaries, our many benefactors, especially the diocese of Limburg in Germany which is very powerfully represented here today on this great feast. Through their generosity and kindness they challenge us to be more credible witnesses of the Gospel and they too are part of this great church, which is family.
Today truly is the spirit of the ?Ecclesia in Africa?, the church as Gods family is very concretely celebrating our gift of faith. Here we render thanks to God for the family apostolate in the diocese of Kumbo, which has truly come of age. We thank all those who devote so much to build the church as family.
All these people are part of what we celebrate today, part of our journey and part of our story- our past our present and our future, – Jesus Christ, yesterday, today and for ever. Today on the ecumenical platform, it is about all Christians of our sister churches, the Presbyterians the Baptist, and the other ecclesia communities present in the diocese of Kumbo.
Together we will continue the project of translating the word of God as well as other meaning ventures of spreading the Good news of Jesus Christ. It is about believers in the one God, our Muslim brothers with whom we shall collaborate to foster the good of all the people of the Kumbo diocese irrespective of their faith.
Today, I have only one ambition, to work with you dear Gods people of Kumbo, to journey with you the priests and religious of this diocese in your joys and in your sorrows. Sometimes I may be able to help you; some time I may need you to help me because as St Augustine says ?for you I am a Bishop and with you I am a Christian.?
These are the sentiments that inspire us, dear brothers and sisters here present at St Augustine?s college this city. I greet you and thank all of you from my heart.
Once more on this birthday of Mary our mother I ask God to bless and protect each and all of you who have sacrificed so much to make today such a beautiful feast.
May Mary guide you and lead you all back home safely God bless and love you all.