Kumbo signs bond with the Blessed Virgin Mary

Sylvanus S. Binla

When one meditates and contemplates the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, one discovers that at least twenty of the forty six qualities of Holy Mary that it contains, portray her as the Mother of Christ the Saviour of the universe-from conception through birth to his upbringing.

It is from this angel that, one believes that the Diocese of Kumbo has signed a bond with the Blessed Virgin Mary in her capacity as the Mother of Christ – the Redeemer.
This is so, from the fact that two very important events in the history of the Diocese of Kumbo have taken place either on the feast of the commemoration of the feast of the Immaculate Conception or on that of the Birth of Christ – Feast of the Nativity.
The 8th of the months of September and December have come to mark how Mary as the Seat of Wisdom has been given to the Diocese of Kumbo first by Pope John Paul II(of blessed memory) when he elected Mgr. Cornelius Esua as pioneer Bishop of the Diocese of Kumbo and chose December 8, 1982 as the day for his consecration (the Feast of the Immaculate Conception), and then by the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, who in his first appointment in Cameroon elected Mgr. George Nkuo on July 8, 2006 as the second residential Bishop of the Diocese of Kumbo and scheduled his consecration for September 8, 2006 (the Feast of the Nativity).
The question that comes to mind is whether it is a mere coincidence or divine providence that the 8th day of the above mentioned months(September and December) has been chosen by two different Popes for the consecration of the bishops of the Diocese of Kumbo?
As if it is not enough, the two dates are connected to the conception and birth of Christ by the Blessed Virgin Mary; two very important feasts in the life of the Church. Does it mean that the Church through the various Popes want to use the Diocese of Kumbo to remind us that the conception and birth of Christ is the conception and birth of the Christianity?
Is it because Christians in the Diocese of Kumbo have unconditionally accepted the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of Christ? Or is it because the two successors of Saint Peter, the Rock on which Christ built his Church have seen the Diocese of Kumbo to be the bosom of Christianity in Cameroon?
However, when one looks into the Christian life of Mgr. Georges Nkuo, one discovers that the Blessed Virgin Mary, as the Mother of Christ, had long been with him. Some forty years back on December 8, he received the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time in his home village – Njinikom and on September 8, 2006 he has joined his brothers of the Episcopal Conference of Cameroon with his consecration as the Second Residential Bishop – the Shepherd of souls of the Diocese of Kumbo. One finds him in communion with the pioneer bishop of the diocese – His Grace Cornelius Esua Archbishop of Bamenda, and whenever the Diocese of Kumbo will be celebrating its feast day – the Immaculate Conception on December 8th every year together with the anniversary of the Episcopal Ordination of Archbishop Cornelius Esua.
Hence a vivid sign that the Diocese of Kumbo has signed a bond with the Blessed Virgin Mary as the Mother of Christ the Saviour with regards to these important dates of the 8th of September and December of each year.