Diocese of Kumba installs newly appointed Bishop

The Diocese of Kumba Installs Newly Appointed Bishop,Mgr. Agapitus Nfon erstwhile Pioneer Auxiliary Bishop of Bamenda, and suffragan to the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda.

It was an awesome ceremony with dignitary officials pouring in from all over Cameroon.

On March 15, 2016, the Holy Father, Pope Francis erected the Catholic Diocese of Kumba in the South West Region of the Republic of Cameroon, with territory taken from the Catholic Diocese of Buea, thus making it a suffragan of the Metropolitan See or Archdiocese of Bamenda. The new Diocese of Kumba is made up of the two civil administrative units of Ndian and Meme Divisions, in addition to a part of the division of Kupe-Manenguba.

The territory of Ndian, Meme and part of Kupe-Manenguba situated in the forest area of the South West Region, covers a surface area of 11.431 Square Kilometers with a population of approximately 562.988 inhabitants of whom 205. 491 (36.5%) are Catholic.

There are 16 parishes, 33 diocesan priests, 3 Fidei Donum priests, and 5 religious priests, 44 religious women, 23 major seminarians and 182 catechists (cf. Agenzia Fides 15/03/2016). The new Diocese is bordered to the north with the Diocese of Mamfe, to the west with Nigeria, to the east with the Diocese of Nkongsamba. The present parish church of Fiango, dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, will become the cathedral church of the diocese of Kumba.

The newly installed bishop was Mgr. Agapitus Enuyehnyoh Nfon, was appointed by the Holy Father Pope Francis earlier this year as the first residential Bishop of the new Diocese of Kumba. Pope Benedict XVI, on account of his pastoral solicitude for all the Particular Churches, appointed Bishop Agapitus as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Bamenda on Friday, 8th April, 2011.

He was a Diocesan Priest of the Diocese of Kumbo, and before his appointment as Auxiliary Bishop, he was the Rector of the Provincial Major Seminary, Saint Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Bambui. He hails from Djottin in Noni Sub-Division, North West Region of Cameroon.

Cameroon Concord's Kumba correspondent spoke at the installation ceremony with the National President of the Catholic Men Association in Cameroon, Mr Roland Kwemain and this is what he had to say:

After the long return trip from Joburg yesterday, I traveled very early this morning to Kumba to join thousands of Catholic Christians and Faithfull to witness the official installation of the 1st Bishop of the Diocese of Kumba, Mgr. Agapitus Nfon.

As the National President of the Catholic Men Association in Cameroon (CMA), I couldn’t miss the memorable occasion.When we put God first in our life, our choices are more obvious, our thoughts are more focused and our footpath is more substantial.

Am honored and very humble to be a servant in the evangelization of the Universal Church in my beloved country, Cameroon!