The archbishop of Bamenda is a rising star in the Catholic Church in Cameroon and beyond.<\/p>\n
When Pope Leo XIV visits Cameroon April 15-18, he will be greeted in Bamenda by one of the country\u2019s most prominent Churchmen, Archbishop Andrew Fuanya Nkea.<\/p>\n
The 60-year-old archbishop is widely regarded in Cameroon as a gifted preacher, an energetic pastor and an unusually visible Catholic leader in a country marked by conflict and widespread human suffering.<\/p>\n
He is already well known to Pope Leo, having served during the 2023-24 Synod on Synodality as a member of its 16-member Ordinary Council that played a crucial role in organizing and overseeing the synod\u2019s work. As Cardinal Robert Prevost, the future Pope Leo took part in all phases of that synod and worked with the archbishop.<\/p>\n
Since the beginning of 2020, Archbishop Nkea has led the northern Archdiocese of Bamenda, the only ecclesiastical province covering the English-speaking regions of Cameroon. With a flock estimated to number more than 600,000 faithful, it is especially notable for being at the center of the Anglophone conflict that began with peaceful protests in 2016 over marginalization of the English-speaking minority.<\/p>\n
The dispute soon escalated into armed fighting between government forces and separatists in the Northwest and Southwest regions. Thousands of people have since been killed, hundreds of thousands displaced, and the conflict has provoked a long-running humanitarian crisis. The fighting is ongoing and both sides remain in a stalemate.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Nkea has pushed for dialogue and reconciliation and has insisted that prayer is the only durable path to peace. Repeatedly saying that the Church can facilitate talks but not replace political negotiation, he has met political leaders, supported humanitarian assistance for people affected by the fighting, and urged Cameroonians to stop hiding behind violence and take responsibility for peace.<\/p>\n
Local media has credited him for his tireless peace efforts, which include working closely with Caritas and making sure people have their basic needs met. The challenge, he says, is in not showing favoritism to either side but helping the People of God who are suffering. For these people, he insists, \u201cI am ready to give my life \u2014 not for separatists, not for the government!\u201d<\/p>\n
He has excoriated the fighters in the war for harming the innocent, especially women and children. Recalling the old African saying \u201cWhen elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers\u201d \u2014 meaning that when powerful people or groups clash, ordinary people are the ones who get hurt \u2014 he said he often goes around entreating the fighters with a simple message: \u201cPlease, they\u2019re your own people. Don\u2019t touch your own people!\u201d<\/p>\n
Born on Aug. 29, 1965, in Widikum, in Northwest Cameroon, Andrew Fuanya Nkea was ordained priest for the western Diocese of Buea in 1992. Pope Francis appointed him coadjutor bishop of Mamfe in 2013 at the age of 47, and he became bishop of the diocese the following year. He took the episcopal motto: \u201cIn Spirit and in Truth.\u201d In February 2020 he was promoted to archbishop of Bamenda, during which time he also served as apostolic administrator of Mamfe (2019-2022).<\/p>\n
Nkea studied philosophy and theology in Cameroon and completed further studies in canon law in Rome, including at the Pontifical Urban University. His early ministry included work as parochial vicar, parish priest and chancellor of the Buea Diocese, as well as judicial vicar and roles in seminary formation.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Nkea was reelected last year for a second term as president of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC). He has also been a key voice in the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), especially concerning the Synod on Synodality.<\/p>\n
The archbishop is known for his orthodoxy and is unafraid to speak his mind. He has spoken firmly against a female diaconate, and, at the end of the first Synod on Synodality in 2023, he made headlines when he told the Register that Africans view marriage as a union between a man and a woman, \u201cand anything short of that is witchcraft.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said he and his African brother bishops made clear their firm opposition to same-sex blessings at the synod, saying their position is rooted in biblical teaching, and he expressed his disappointment with Fiducia Supplicans, the Vatican\u2019s 2023 declarationapproving non-liturgical same-sex blessings. That decision, made outside the synod, \u201cwas not pleasant,\u201d he told the Register, adding that he and his brother bishops did not want to see it repeated.<\/p>\n
In line with many African prelates, the archbishop is nevertheless a keen proponent of synodality. He sees it as reflective of a more communitarian and collegial way of governing that is especially common to Africa.<\/p>\n
Overall, his emphasis tends to be on safeguarding doctrinal clarity, strengthening family and community life, and approaching complex situations \u2014 such as polygamy or youth pastoral care \u2014 with a combination of doctrinal firmness and pastoral sensitivity.<\/p>\n
As a gifted preacher, the faithful are often deeply moved by Archbishop Nkea\u2019s homilies, according to Cameroonian Catholic writer Emmanuel Ayuni Tan. \u201cHe has a remarkable ability to communicate the Gospel message clearly and effectively to his audience,\u201d Ayuni Tan told the Register, and he is known as a lighthearted, good-humored prelate who likes to dance the samba.<\/p>\n
In interviews with the Register over the years, the archbishop has expressed his concerns about Europe, especially its complacency in the face of the spread of Islam. \u201cIf you look at the decline of Christianity on the continent, it is met by a corresponding rise in Islam, and this is what must be the worry,\u201d he said in 2023. It is a correlation, he lamented, that is not often noticed.<\/p>\n
Europe, he believes, should look to the Church in Africa and apostolic tradition for answers. \u201cIf Europe has to save itself, they have to return to the authenticity of the Church\u2019s teachings,\u201d he told the Register in 2024. \u201cWhere the Church\u2019s teaching is rigid, people go in; where the Church\u2019s teaching is fluid, people go out. And this is what Europe must realize if they have to maintain Christianity.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is known to be skilled at navigating complex issues and has the qualities of a capable diplomat, but this latter trait has occasionally drawn criticism, leading some Cameroonians to see him as more of \u201ca politician in clerical attire\u201d than a spiritual leader.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Nkea dismisses such criticisms, believing it is important to keep channels of dialogue open with political leaders, but also to keep such relations \u201cquiet\u201d so that he can be welcomed back. \u201cI don\u2019t go around telling people whom I meet,\u201d he said in an interview with ABS News Network last month. \u201cI don\u2019t want popularity; I want results.\u201d He sees the lack of truth as the \u201cbiggest problem\u201d in Cameroonian politics and \u201cin our communities,\u201d and he has called on those in public life \u201cto build a world based on truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
The archbishop has a deep devotion to Jesus in the Eucharist and in 2022-23 held a Year of the Eucharist in his diocese, during which he asked each parish of the archdiocese to establish a perpetual adoration chapel. He made clear that this was not a devotional optional extra but an integral way of putting Christ at the center of a battered local Church.<\/p>\n
In practice, this meant dozens of new or renovated chapels, high lay participation and a striking youth presence, to the point that international outlets treated Bamenda as a kind of laboratory for Eucharistic renewal. He has consistently presented adoration as a place where people who arrive \u201ctotally depressed\u201d by war and poverty can \u201cleave totally converted.\u201d Before the Blessed Sacrament, he said, \u201cwe find the strength to continue.\u201d<\/p>\n
Widely seen as an innovator and a natural leader, Archbishop Nkea has significantly transformed his diocese. As well as constructing adoration chapels, he has been praised for renovating Bamenda\u2019s cathedral and improving schools and hospitals \u2014 all at a time of conflict and great suffering. \u201cHe is regarded as a man of the people and a friend to everyone, including those living on the streets,\u201d said Ayuni Tan. \u201cHe does not discriminate and makes people feel comfortable in his presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those close to him say he is also strict and highly disciplined but eminently likeable. They regard him as a humble and simple man, as well as an accessible, pragmatic leader. A hard worker, he does not shy away from challenges but will see initiatives through to completion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe remains a loved and respected figure among his flock and a well-known personality across Cameroon,\u201d said Ayuni Tan. \u201cThe affection and loyalty he enjoys among his faithful remain largely undiminished,\u201d he added, and many people \u201ccontinue to look to him for guidance and leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n
Being a qualified canonist also places him in good stead, given Leo XIV\u2019s preference to appoint canon lawyers to prominent positions in the Church in order to restore law and order to the institutional Church. Some Cameroonians are speculating Leo could even nominate him a cardinal during the upcoming visit.<\/p>\n
As the archbishop\u2019s profile rises, more and more people are coming to know this genial, approachable and appealing youthful African prelate and believe he is destined for higher office.<\/p>\n
Archbishop Nkea, however, plays down the prognostications and public commentary. \u201cNinety-nine-point nine percent of people who talk about me don\u2019t even know me,\u201d he observed last month. \u201cThey go to social media and say things.\u201d For now, he remains focused on the important tasks the Lord has given him and has pledged to do them to the best of his ability, speaking \u201ctruth to power\u201d whenever he can.<\/p>\n
This article was originally published by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n