My Lord, how did the Archdiocese of Bamenda receive the news of the election of the new pope?
We received the news of our new pope with great joy, for the people of God who are in the Archdiocese of Bamenda and the Diocese of Kumbo. We received the wonderful news with a lot of gratitude to God, who has given us a new pastor during this period that we have been living with a lot of great expectations. You can imagine that it is a great source of relief for the universal Church in general. Were you surprised by the choice of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger given that speculations were leaning heavily on a pope from Africa or Latin America? We were surprised in one way or the other. The choice of the pope is a gift from God and the work of the Holy Spirit. So any human reflection, any human thought is certainly out of the question because everything comes from God. Things are not necessarily done according to human expectations and wishes. God’s choice remains God’s choice and, as such, always comes as a surprise. On the other hand, I personally think that the choice of Cardinal Ratzing
