By Nchumbonga George Lekelefac
March 13, 2023, marked the 25th anniversary of the death of Bishop Emeritus Paul Etoga, first Cameroonian bishop and first black indigenous bishop of French Africa (1955), and Central Africa, pioneer and first bishop of Mbalmayo (1961) whodied on 13 March 1998, at 87 as Bishop Emeritus of Mbalmayo, Cameroon. Why Should Bishop Joseph-Marie Ndi-Okalla initiate the Beatification Cause of Bishop Paul Etoga, First Cameroonian Catholic Bishop?
Pastoresgreg is (The Shepherds of the Flock)subtitled as “The Bishop, Servant of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the Hope of the World,” a post-synod apostolic exhortation released on October 16, 2003 by Pope John Paul II states clearly that “Consequently, each particular Church should be concerned to celebrate its own saints who were Bishops and also to remember those pastors who by virtue of their holy lives and enlightened teachings handed down to their people a particular legacy of admiration and affection. They are the spiritual sentinels who from heaven guide the way of the pilgrim Church through time.
In order to keep ever alive, the memory of those faithful Bishops who were outstanding in the exercise of their ministry, the Synodal Assembly recommended that particular Churches or, when suitable, the Bishops’ Conferences, should make the lives of these Bishops known to the faithful through updated biographies and, when the case warrants, consider the possibility of introducing their cause for canonization”. (Pastores Greg is, number 29). Bishop Paul Etoga was outstanding in his exercise of the episcopal ministry in Yaoundé and later in Mbalmayo. That is why it is important for the Diocese of Mbalmayo to consider the possibility of introducing their cause for canonization because he distinguished his episcopal ministry with justice for all, prudence, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope and charity.
On March 13, 2023, I wrote an open letter to the Most Reverend Joseph-Marie Ndi-Okalla, (Master’s Degree in Biblical Theology (Paris); Doctorate in Dogmatic Theology, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn, Germany; Bishop of the Diocese of Mbalmayo, Republic of Cameroon in which I kindly proposed the earnest consideration of the official launching of the beatification process of Bishop Paul Etoga of blessed, glorious, evergreen and revered memory on 25th anniversary of his passing into glory.
In the open letter,I stated that I was writing the letter in my humble capacity of the Founder of the “Nchumbonga Lekelefac Institute of Research, Documentation, Language and Culture, USA, based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma State in the United States of America which I established in order to promote research and documentation of the lives of important icons and figures like Bishop Paul Etoga. I also informed Bishop Ndi Okalla that at the moment, I was writing a research book in English about Bishop Etoga, whom I have decided to crusade for his beatification. It is known that Bishop Paul Etoga ordained Bishop Ndi-Okalla a priest on 13 August 1983 at 25 as a priest for the Diocese of Mbalmayo. This made the aim of my open letter easier for Bishop Ndi-Okalla to understand because he was his bishop and would know him better.
Bishop Paul Etoga was known as a very simple, humble, ascetic, steadfast, approachable bishop who lived according to the gospel of Jesus Christ. A bishop according to the heart and mind of Jesus Christ, a pastor with the smell of the sheep, a father of the poor, an educator, a youth motivator. During his life as a priest and then as auxiliary bishop and later as a diocesan bishop, Bishop Paul Etoga distinguished himself by living the heroic virtues of justice for all, temperance, fortitude, prudence, faith, hope and charity. There are countless testimonies which need to be documented as evidence for his process of beatification.
My Experience with Bishop Paul Etoga
I met Bishop Paul Etoga for the first time in 1997 when I was concluding primary school. I had gone to visit the Swiss Reverend Father Jacob Maria who was then Parish priest of the Anglophone Community in Mbalmayo. He was living then opposite the St Paul Minor Seminary, Mbalmayo in Mbog Kulu. Interestingly, retired Bishop Paul Etoga was living in that compound too. It happened that when I had finished talking with Father Jacob Maria, Bishop Paul Etoga was being carried out of the house he lived so that he could take some fresh air. I vividly remember that I approached him and greeted him in Ewondo. He could barely smile. He was tired but he answered. Bishop Paul Etoga was the founding bishop of the Diocese of Mbalmayo. He left a legacy in terms of land and in terms of the training of the faithful of Christ, lay people and clerics. He wanted lay people to be well trained in catechesis. He developed the Health in collaboration with Don Pedretti without forgetting Education; late vocations. He established Saint Paul Minor Seminary in Mbalmayo, where Bishop Ndi-Okalla studied and obtained his high school certificate in 1970. He also established a factory to manufacture rosaries thereby promoting the praying of the Holy Rosary in the entire diocese.
Bishop Paul Etoga stood against Colonialism and Racism in the Church
Bishop Paul Etoga sacrificed his life for Cameroon. He is known as a man who gave his life for the events of its independence. He has totally consecrated not only to Christ but also to its fatherland and the promotion of his brothers.
Some left their carrier, some gave up their lives. He had before him colonial powers and above all some white clergy who defended their interest of the metropolis. He was a man with exception in the fight for independence. Being the first African black bishop under French colonization, Mgr. Paul Etoga was a pro UPCist (The Union of the Peoples of Cameroon (French: Union des Populations du Cameroun – UPC) is a political party in Cameroon) and understood the sense of fight of Um Nyobe and the others.
In April 1955, during the paschal week, five bishops (all white) metropolitan archbishops with Archbishop Graffin, Apostolic Vicar of Yaoundé followed by Mgr. Pierre BONNEAU, Apostolic Vicar for Douala, Mgr. Paul BOUQUE, Apostolic Vicar for Nkongsamba, Mgr. Yves PLUMEY, Apostolic Vicar for Garoua and Mgr. Jacques TERENSTRA, Apostolic Vicar of Doume assembled in Yaoundé to write a letter against the UPC.
In the letter distributed to more than one million Cameroonian Christian faithful, The UPC was decreed as a satanic work in Cameroon. All the most diabolic adjectives were used to describe the UPCists. Mgr. Paul Etoga, then auxiliary bishop of Yaoundé, and assistant to Mgr. GRAFFIN energetically opposed to this defamation and categorically refused to sign the letter.
Bishop Paul ETOGA fought against hard labour put in place by Archbishop GRAFFIN, his hierarchic superior. It is important to note that at this époque, the Catholic Church advocated forced labour for faulty blacks and were asking the faulty whites just to recite the “Our Father.”
In this fierce fight against injustice among the clergy, Mgr. Paul ETOGA was considered by some of his white brother bishops as an anti-white racist. It is in vengeance that Mgr. Paul ETOGA was driven away from Yaoundé, and was sent to Mbalmayo, because Archbishop GRAFFIN, then archbishop of Yaoundé did not want to feel nor see this African Cameroonian bishop who was so proud to be African. (Cf. Cameroun web, Msgr. Paul ETOGA, the bishop who sacrificed himself for Cameroon).
Among the great opponents of his anti-colonial fight was his former pupil, Jean ZOA. It is reported that on leaving Yaoundé, he told his pupil, Jean ZOA: “You have chosen the bad. I will never set my feet in the Archdiocese of Yaoundé.” No wonder, Father Jean Zoa was consecrated Archbishop of Yaoundé on 21 December 1961, at the young age of 37 at the “Colegio Propaganda Fide in Rome by Cardinal Agagianian †, then Patriarch of Cilicia (Armenian) and the Principal Co-Consecrators were Archbishop Pietro Sigismondi †, then Titular Archbishop of Neapolis in Pisidia and Archbishop Pierre Marie Joseph Veuillot †, then Titular Archbishop of Constantia in Thracia. Between 1962 and 1965, he participated in the Second Vatican Council, from the 1st to the 4th session as council father. (Cf. Jean-Paul Messina, 2000).
Bishop Paul Etoga reacted to Open Letter of Doctor Bernard Fonlon to the Bishops of Buea and Bamenda on the establishment of Bambui Major Seminary, February 14, 1974
This was the reaction of Bishop Paul Etoga: “To Dr. Bernard Fonlon. Dear Mr. Bernard, It was with great interest that I read your letter written to the Bishops in West Cameroon. I admire the spirit of your Catholic faith! What is to be highly appreciated is the love you have for the Church and our dear country. The courage you have shown in bringing to light truths that have been buried in the darkness of fear, has no equal. It is only minds that have been devoid of serious reflection or harbour evil intentions that will try to incriminate you. Your letter is a lesson not only to the Cameroon Episcopate, but to that of black Africa as a whole. I heartily congratulate you. +Paul Etoga, Bishop of Mbalmayo, February 14, 1974” (Translated by Father Christian Tumi) in reaction to the Open Letter as they came to the Catholic Information Service (Cameroon Panorama, page 48). As you could see, Bishop Etoga praised the courage of Dr. Bernard Fonlon in bringing to light truths that have been buried in the darkness of fear. He was a man who stood for the truth.
It is my humble wish that Bishop Joseph-Marie Ndi-Okalla could formally petition the cause for canonization of Bishop Paul Etogato the Dicastery for the Canonization of Saints in the Vatican.
Nchumbonga George Lekelefac, Doctorandus, University of Münster, Germany; Europe / USA Correspondent of the SUN Newspaper; Founder/ CEO of Nchumbonga Lekelefac Institute of Research, Documentation, Language and Culture, USA>