Archbishop Nkea warns against politicising Catholic Men Association.

The meeting spanned February 16 to 18. It took place under the theme: “A vigilant life: Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it, flows the spring of life”.

Among counsels which the Archbishop said formed the 10 commandments of the CMA in Cameroon, he remarked that there is need for the association to stay purely spiritual. 

Going by him, as the association continues to swell in numbers, it must not be transformed into some sort of a political movement.

The CMA, he told the members, “is a spiritual and action group”, that must not be given political power or coloration. He challenged members of the association to stay unite, act differently and defend their faith.

He also reminded the CMA membership to know that St Joseph remains their patron, noting that: “He is the center of the Association and has the virtues that each member must emulate”. 

To stay on the right path, he admonished them to “Be the light of St Joseph everywhere. Make sure you are in unity with the local ordinary wherever you are. Don’t be in conflict with local church authorities”.

Archbishop Nkea also told the CMA members to stay away from any form of class distinction. He advised that: “Titles of Director, Professor, Minister, Governor, Doctor…should not be used when putting on the CMA uniform because at that, everyone becomes a brother”.

The Association members were also urged to shun competition and ignore those that are trying to fight them. 
As they continue to run the Christian race, Archbishop Nkea also reminded the CMA to stay on guard against the signs of the evil spirit. These, he said, manifest through attitudes such as lies, quarreling, drawbacks, egoism among others.

Commitment to the word of God

Talking to reporters at the end of the mass, the Archbishop who is also President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, NECC, challenged the CMA members to depend on God and be agents of peace.

Enter SMA National President 

The National President of the CMA, Okie Johnson Ndoh, said the three-day exercise marked a high-level engagement and commitment in the word of God.  “The experience we have had in Bamenda from all our five provinces has been that of total engagement and commitment in the word of God and in the spread of the word of God to other people,” Okie said.

In terms of spirituality, he explained that: “The first project which was centered on spirituality was to enforced our spirituality and giving a greater role to the liturgy masters and our Chaplains to champion our spirituality going down right with the liturgy masters to meet us at our bases in our churches“.

National secretariat project, productive living 

Okie talked about the interest of the CMA to ensure its national secretariat under construction in Buea sees the light of day. “Our national secretariat in Buea, we are about 70% realisation,” he said. 

He disclosed that, they also used the Bamenda meeting to “encourage our members to go into income generating activities which will be able to sustain the group within their grassroots level”. 

On other aspects, Okie said spiritual documents of the CMA have been harmonised. He cited the statutes of the Association, Bylaws, Novena Booklets, CMA Dedication Rites, Works Programme, National Formation Programme and Testimonials. 

Okie urged members to keep their fire for God alive and stay committed to do more. 70 new members were dedicated at the end of the meeting.

Other activities 

In the course of the three-day meeting, the CMA carried out charity works known in Catholic doctrine as corporal works of mercy. 

It made various donations to the Bamenda DDR Centre; the Bambui and Batchou-Ntai major seminaries; the minor seminaries of Kitiwum in Kumbo and the Bishop Rogan College, Soppo, Buea and the Bamenda Central Prison. 

The association also offered 4.5 million FCFA to support the projects of the Bamenda Archbishop

The Archbishop emeritus of Bamenda, His Grace Cornelius Fontem Esua, and the Bishop of Kumbo, His Lordship George Nkuo, attended the event. The next executive meeting of the association was announced for Buea in October this year.