Bishop George Nkuo ordains his first priests

Seven months after his Episcopal Ordination, Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo, has ordained his first priests and has expressed profound spiritual joy for this first privilege in his pastoral ministry. He ordained seven priests on April 12 to continue the fruitful work of the Church that is in Kumbo Diocese.

He places the newly ordained priests into the hands of Mary Mother of Christ, to be inspired and guided, to confide in her and be looked after as she did to John the beloved disciple. Of the seven priests ordained into the sacred priesthood last April 12, 2007 in the St. Theresia’s Cathedral in Kumbo, six of them are Capuchin Friars. The newly ordained priests include Rev. Gerald Jumbam Nyuykongmo as the lone candidate of Diocesan Priest, Kerla Cyril, Ketema Belete, Pascal Fomonyuy Tatah, Peter Tar Fonyuy, Temesgen Woldu Musa and Br. Wirkom Donatus. Considering that the Capuchins are 25 years old in Cameroon and particularly in the Diocese of Kumbo, who would be celebrating their Silver Jubilee the following day after the ordination in Shisong, Bishop George acknowledged that it was right and fitting for the capuchins to carry the lion’s share of the ordination candidates this year.

To him, it is a wonderful and symbolic jubilee gift from God to the capuchin community to welcome six young brothers into the sacred priesthood. With Gerald as the lone candidate for the Diocese of Kumbo, the bishop said there is no need to complain of a poor harvest because the year was the Capuchins’. While seeing the moment of ordination as one which the newly ordained had long and anxiously waited for, he reminded them that amidst the striking moment of joy, they are chosen by Christ to be his co-workers. He described it as a wonderful moment in the life of mankind as sinful man is being endowed with divine power, for which a human being cannot sufficiently thank God for. Talking about the participants at the ordination ceremony, the occasion offers them a touching faith experience for they feel something very special happening, such that God touches the ordained in a way as to pass onto them some tremendous invisible divine power.

Continuing with the newly ordained priests, His Lordship called on them to always treasure the gracious gift the Eucharistic celebration, which is the mission to which God calls them. Denouncing all forms of discouragement and obstacles to the new ministers of the church as they join the Sacred Priesthood, Bishop George called on them to be faithful and steadfast in their mission as followers of Christ. Faithfulness and steadfastness, he said, is a vital part of following Christ. Acknowledging that trials and difficulties are inevitable in their pastoral work, he cautioned them to always turn to God with faith, trust and patience as Christ did in the Gethsemane where he experience an overwhelming sense of sorrow and desolation. As Christ did to his disciples, Bishop George assured the new priests that he will also pray to his father for their protection, unity among themselves and for their steadfastness as they accept the challenge to answer his call. He called on Christians to be a source of protection and guidance to the priests and to desist from all forms of scandal about the priests. Scandal, he said, destroys the holy Church of God. He exhorted all to see them as their own brothers, forgive them as any other human being and pray for them for they are the ones who bring Christians closer to the heart of God.

The Ordination Mass was concelebrated by Archbishop Antoine Ntalou of Garoua and a host of priests from Kumbo and beyond. After a careful evaluation of the efforts of the Christians of the Diocese of Kumbo, the Secretary of the Kumbo Diocesan Laity Council Mr. Yubin Ernest termed them a hard working set of Christians taking into consideration the number of successes recorded since the Episcopal Ordination of His Lordship Bishop George Nkuo. That ordination, the thanksgiving Mass in his home village of Njinikom, the installation of Bishop Immanuel Bushu of Buea and the ordination of seven priests within the same number of months were all proof of how much they love God and his Church.

To the ordaining Bishop, the secretary classified his first fruits as the Bishop of the Church in Kumbo with seven priests as a glaring testimony of divine approval and thanked him for accepting the candidates for ordination. Reminding the Christians of Kumbo of the majority of priests they get for ordination each year, he called on them to make additional effort in their Seminary collection, because the output each year has always been below standard in relation to those of the other dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, who do not have such a high number of priests to ordain from the St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui.