To:
All Members of Institutes of the Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life,
All lay Members of Christ’s Faithful,
Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda
Re: Celebration of the Year for Priests in the Ecclesiastical
Province of Bamenda.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The peace of the Lord be with you.
During the 47th Plenary Assembly of the Bamenda Provincial Episcopal Conference, the Bishops of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda discussed and decided on the celebration at the Provincial level, of the YEAR FOR PRIESTS declared by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. This was contained in the Final Communiqué of BAPEC of the 22nd of August 2009.
In order to have fruitful celebrations of The Year for Priests at the Provincial Level, the Bishops decided on the following line of action recommendations;
1. That Retreats and programs for renewal of the spiritual life of Priests be organized at Diocesan levels. Some of these could include pilgrimages to Sacred Heart Parish, Shisong, Diocese of Kumbo, where the first Cameroonian priest was ordained in 1949. These should take place before April 2010.
2. That each Diocese should send priests-representatives to Rome for the World celebration of the Year for Priest with the Holy Father, due in June 2010.
3. That our Minor and Major Seminaries and other houses for priestly formation, should highlight this year with events and conferences which will help candidates in their understanding of the priesthood, taking as their major theme for meditation, the Life and examples of St. John Mary Vianney.
4. That the peak celebration at the level of the Province will run from Tuesday 6 April, 2010 to Friday 9, April 2010 with a Priestly Congress for three days at the Sacred Heart College Mankon-Bamenda. This congress will end with a Pontifical Mass at the ST. THOMAS AQUINAS’ MAJOR SEMINARY BAMBUI, Bamenda, during which there will be Priestly Ordinations for the candidates to the Priesthood of the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda.
5. That all Diocesan Priests, Clerical members of Institutes of consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life serving within the Ecclesiastical Province of Bamenda, will be expected to participate at the Priestly Congress beginning at 4pm on Tuesday, 6 April, 2010. Each Priest shall contribute seven thousand Francs CFA as participation fee.
6. That each of the four dioceses of the Ecclesiastical Province will be expected to send one hundred delegates to the congress. This number will consist of Lay members of Christ’s Faithful and non-clerical Members of Institutes of Consecrated Life, and they will be expected to arrive only in the evening of Wednesday April 7, 2010. Each delegate shall contribute four thousand Francs CFA as participation fee. Extra donations in cash and kind will be appreciated.
7.Let us commend the Life and Ministry of our priests to the intercession of St. John Mary Vianney, Patron Saint of Parish Priest, and to the maternal protection of our Blessed Mother Mary, mother of Priests, that our priests may truly be Good Shepherds after the example of Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
God bless you all.
Yours sincerely in Christ
+Immanuel Bushu
Bishop of BueaPresident of BAPEC.
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