L'Effort Camerounais (English Version)

Testimony: The fruits of a happy encounter

Fr. Martin Nag Iked

Better or more authentic testimonies about Mgr. Paul Verdzekov will surely come from more informed people than this one that is very modest, but which is a filial and sincere veneration.When on January 9, 2010, I once again saw Mgr. Paul Verdzekov during the reception of Mgr Samuel Kléda in Douala; I was far from imagining that the Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda could leave us so soon, precisely on January 26, 2010.

PERSPECTIVE: Pontifical spotlight of the Benedicts up to Pope Benedict XVI

Rev. John Kubuo

The name Benedict is interestingly a mixed baggage of positive and negative papal history ascribed to seventeen clergy, who were either popes or anti-popes of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.

One of them was imprisoned, another murdered, three were anti-popes, four had their appointments delayed by the Roman emperor, and eight were deposed, although some were subsequently reinstated. This confusion was not there in the beginning.

“I strongly felt the universality of the Church”

Interviewed by Martin Jumbam

Mr George Wirnkar, Cameroon’s representative of the pro-life movement, Human Life International, has just come back from Rome where he witnessed the election of Benedict XVI. He speaks to L’Effort camerounais about the feelings he had as he waited for the election of the Supreme Pontiff. Excerpts:

Mass held to formally install Pope Benedict XVI

VATICAN CITY  (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI formally began his stewardship of the Roman Catholic Church today, reaching out to Jews, other Christians and "non-believers alike,'' and asking for prayers from the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and dignitaries gathered in St. Peter's Square as he assumed "this enormous task.'' The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was known as the enforcer of church orthodoxy, said in his installation homily that as pope he would listen along with the church to the will of God in governing the world's 1.1 billion Catholics.

Pope Benedict's Inaugural Mass Homily

This is the text of the homily delivered by Pope Benedict XVI at the Mass formally inaugurating his pontificate on Sunday, April 24 in St. Peter's Square.

Your Eminences, my dear brother bishops and priests, distinguished authorities and members of the diplomatic corps, dear brothers and sisters. During these days of great intensity, we have chanted the litany of the saints on three different occasions: at the funeral of our Holy Father John Paul II; as the cardinals entered the conclave; and again today, when we sang it with the response: Tu illum adiuva-- sustain the new successor of St. Peter. On each occasion, in a particular way, I found great consolation in listening to this prayerful chant.

Vittorio Messori on the Myth and Reality of Joseph Ratzinger

Italian journalist Vittorio Messori believes that the image of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- now Pope Benedict XVI -- which presents him as the 'Panzer-Kardinal,' is false. 

ROME, APRIL 20, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Italian journalist Vittorio Messori believes that the image of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- now Pope Benedict XVI -- which presents him as the "Panzer-Kardinal," is false.

Bishop Cornelius Esua: “The election of the Pope is the work of the Holy Spirit”

Interviewed by Aloysius Agendia

Shortly after the new pope was announced to the public, the Coadjutor Archbishop of Bamenda, Mgr Cornelius Fontem Esua, said that the election of the new pope was the work of the Holy Spirit. He however, rejected the argument that the Church has opted for conservatism in voting Cardinal Ratzinger as Supreme Pontiff, and outlined some of the challenges that await the Church under the pastoral care of the new Shepherd. Excerpts:

Full Text of Pope Benedict's first statement

Vatican, Apr. 20 (CWNews.com) - The following, courtesy of the Vatican Information Service, is the complete text of the first message of Pope Benedict XVI, which he delivered in Latin at the end of this morning's Mass with the members of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel.

Name That Hearkens Back to a Pope and a Founder

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 19, 2005 (Zenit.org).- In choosing the name Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger links his pontificate to two great evangelizers, says an observer.

Bishop Cipriano Calderon, retired vice-president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, said in statements to ZENIT: "The novelty of this Pontiff lies already in the name chosen: He succeeds Benedict XV, who chose this name in honor of St. Benedict, patron of Europe and great evangelizer of his time."

Memory Lane: A Biography of Pope Benedict VX (1914 - 1922 AD)

With battle smoke hanging heavy over Flanders fields and Carpathian Mountains, the Cardinals realized that the next pope should be a diplomat. The man chosen was Giacomo della Chiesa, who took the name Benedict XV. Giacomo della Chiesa was born at Genoa on November 21, 1854. He studied law at Genoa and theology at Rome's Gregorian University. Ordained in 1873, he became a doctor of sacred theology in 1879.