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Campagne Semaines Pascales 2003
Contributions
Homily
delivered
during
an
Ecumenical
Service
at
P.C.
Ntamulung
on
May
9th
2003
By
Rev.
Dr.
James
M.
Nsokika
Dear
brothers
and
sisters
in
Christ,
Let
me
seize
this
opportunity
to
welcome
each
and
everyone
of
you
who
has
come
for
this
ecumenical
service.
The
word
Ecumenism
comes
from
the
Greek
word
Oikoumene
which
means
"the
whole
inhabited
world".
Baptism
is
the
dividing
line,
which
separates
believers
in
Christ
from
others.
The
ecumenical
movement
is
the
attempt
by
Christians
to
bring
about
the
unity
desired
by
Christ
as
we
read
in
the
gospel
of
St.
John:
"May
they
be
so
completely
one
that
the
world
will
realize
that
it
was
you
who
sent
me"
(Jn.
17:23).
This
restoration
of
Christian
unity
desired
by
Christ
pertains
to
the
whole
world.
The
ecumenical
movement
has
been
brought
about
by
the
conviction
of
Christians
that
a
divided
Christianity
is
a
big
scandal
to
the
world
and
this
is
very
much
against
the
will
of
Christ
who
wishes
all
men
to
be
saved.
Our
Lord's
long
discourse
at
the
last
supper
ended
with
his
priestly
prayer.
He
prayed
particularly
for
his
apostles
and
for
all
those
who
through
the
preaching
of
the
apostles
would
believe
in
him-
the
Christians
of
all
ages.
Jesus
prayed
to
his
Father
that
the
disciples
the
Father
had
given
him
should
remain
united
in
true
faith
and
love
in
order
to
carry
out
the
work
he
had
entrusted
to
their
care.
Christ's
prayer
for
the
Church
was
that
its
members
would
be
one
as
he
and
his
Father
are
one.
And
the
unity
for
which
Christ
prayed
was
unity
of
love,
a
unity
in
which
men
should
love
each
other-
in
the
same
way
that
Christ
loved
them;
"As
the
Father
had
loved
me,
so
I
have
love
you.
A
man
can
have
no
greater
love
than
to
lay
down
his
life
for
his
friends"
(Jn.
15:9,13).
One
thing
is
certain,
namely,
that
Christians
through
the
centuries
came
to
be
divided.
Christians
may
not
organize
their
Churches
in
the
same
way.
They
may
find
it
hard
to
worship
God
in
the
same
way.
They
do
not
teach
the
same
doctrine
or
have
the
same
beliefs.
However,
Christian
unity
is
something
that
they
must
endeavor
to
achieve.
Christian
unity
must
join
them
together
in
love.
But
how
can
we
bring
about
this
unity?
First
by
constant
prayer.
The
grace
of
God,
through
our
fervent
prayers
for
our
leaders
and
theologians,
can
and
will
open
their
eyes
to
see
ways
and
means
to
unification.
Secondly,
it
is
our
duty
to
show
members
of
the
other
churches
by
word
and
deed
that
we
are
their
brothers
and
sisters
in
Christ.
Thirdly,
if
we
are
unity-minded,
that
is,
truly
Christian-minded,
we
can
find
topics
for
discussion
that
involve
the
Christian
faith.
In
this
sense
we
can
understand
the
Easter
Weeks
Campaign,
organized
in
Cameroon
by
the
International
Circle
for
Promotion
of
Creation
(CIPCRE)
the
National
Service
for
Justice
and
Peace
of
the
Catholic
Church,
the
Cameroon
Federation
of
Protestant
Churches
and
Missions
(FEMEC)
and
the
Higher
Islamic
Council
of
Cameroon,
seeks
to
sensitize
religious
Communities
to
the
social
implications
of
faith.
This
campaign
wants
Christians
to
be
committed
and
to
declare
their
faith
in
the
face
of
the
ills
eating
deep
into
our
society.
In
the
face
of
all
types
of
violence
which
generate
crude
and
insecure
behaviors,
the
organizers
of
the
Easter
Weeks
Campaign
have
decided
to
jointly
devote
this
period
to
the
problems
facing
our
society.
The
aim
is
to
make
Christians
and
Moslems
aware
of
the
problems
of
violence
and
insecurity
in
the
African
Continent.
There
must
be
ways
of
combating
these
problems.
Some
incidents
in
various
parts
of
Africa-
especially,
where
the
people
are
fighting
for
power,
keep
on
recurring
in
our
minds.
We
mention
for
example,
the
unthinkable
genocide
in
Rwandan.
The
Central
African
Republic
supplies
the
media
with
regular
killings
and
bloody
scenes
of
inter-tropical
Africa.
Someone
has
pointed
out
that
Cote
d'lvoire
is
following
on
the
heels
of
Liberia
and
Sierra
Leone
in
terms
of
the
African
market
place
of
horror.
In
Cameroon,
the
situation
is
highly
different.
Between
1984
and
1997
for
instance,
high
way
robbery
alone
was
according
to
some
sources,
caused
material
damages
to
the
tune
of
15(fifteen)
billion
francs
CFA.
The
Littoral
Province
which
harbors
the
economic
capital
Douala
had
during
a
year
been
responsible
for
3
340
cases
of
aggravated
theft,
208
murders
and
118
cases
of
kidnapping
or
rape
of
mirrors.
In
their
Declaration
on
insecurity,
the
Bishops
of
Cameroon
mentioned
that
they
could
not
keep
quiet
if
they
saw
things
going
wrong.
The
Bishops
said
among
other
things,
"We
are
thinking
first
of
those
acts
of
high
banditry
which
are
on
the
rise
in
our
country;
odious
robbery
at
gun-point,
burglary,
acts
by
high
way
robbers
which
sometimes
end
up
in
assassinations,
rape,
armed
robbery
with
breaking
into
houses.
We
condemn
such
acts
and
ask
that
justice
takes
its
course
so
as
to
bring
those
authors
to
book,
according
to
the
law".
The
bishops
further
pointed
out
that
many
voices
have
already
been
raised
in
our
country
(and
even
beyond)
to
denounce
those
insensible
acts,
which
constitute
an
insult
to
law,
which
undermine
human
dignity,
violating
even
the
laws
in
force
in
our
country
and
dishonoring
our
country.
The
fatal
disappearance
of
nine
young-men
in
Bepanda
is
a
case
in
point,
the
Bishop
pointed
out
The
Bishops
particularly
lamented
and
worried,
just
like
all
the
citizens
of
the
country,
when
they
learn
that
thieves
sometimes
operate
with
the
connivance
of
some
members
of
the
forces
of
law
and
order,
who
let
their
weapons
to
evil
doers
or
bribe
persons
detained
in
jails
to
carry
out
their
plans.
Moreover,
thieves
arrested
are
sometimes
released
after
the
payment
of
a
ransom
and
this
worries
the
chastised
party
without
the
true
minds
behind
such
being
touched
and
who
are
sometimes
highly
placed
in
society
and
well
known.
It
is
well
known
in
Cameroon
that
persons
are
sometimes
abducted
and
taken
to
unknown
destinations
without
the
families
having
any
information
on
their
whereabouts.
God's
commandment
"thou
shall
not
kill,"
as
we
read
in
Deuteronomy
5:17
and
Exodus
20:13,
is
addressed
to
everyone
without
exception.
No
one
therefore
has
the
right
to
kill,
except
in
case
of
self-defense
concerning
his
life
or
that
of
others.
Indeed,
no
one
has
the
right,
for
whatever
reason,
to
maim
a
human
being,
to
torture
him,
to
subject
him
to
inhuman
treatment.
The
Cameroon
law
No
97/009
of
10th
Jan.
1997
promulgated
by
the
Head
of
State,
condemns
and
prescribes
serious
sanctions
which
may
go
up
to
life
imprisonment
for
torturers.
Our
first
reading
taken
from
the
book
of
Genesis,
sadly
tells
us
how
right
from
the
beginning,
Yahweh
saw
that
the
wickedness
of
man
on
earth
was
great
and
that
the
thoughts
of
man's
heart
fashioned
nothing
but
wickedness.
This
caused
Yahweh
to
regret
why
he
had
created
man
at
all.
And
that
is
the
only
creature
that
he
created
in
his
own
image
and
likeness
(Gen.
l
:26-27).
At
least
for
our
consolation,
there
was
one
man,
Noah
who
had
found
favor
in
God's
sight
-although
the
earth
continued
to
be
corrupt
in
God's
sight
and
filled
with
violence.
In
the
gospel
we
have
just
read
taken
from
chapter
6
of
St.
Luke,
we
are
told
how
a
man
traveling
from
Jerusalem
to
Jericho
was
mishandled
by
robbers
and
left
almost
half
dead.
The
road
from
Jerusalem
to
Jericho
was
a
notoriously
dangerous
road.
In
the
5th
Century
St.
Jerome
tells
us
that
it
was
still
called:
"The
Red
or
Bloody
Way".
As
late
as
the
early
1930s,
H.V.
Morton
tells
us
that
he
was
warned
to
get
home
before
dark,
if
he
intended
to
use
the
road,
because
a
certain
Abu
Jilbah
was
an
adept
at
holding
up
cars
and
robbing
travelers
and
tourists
and
escaping
to
the
hills
before
the
police
could
arrive.
When
Jesus
told
this
story,
he
was
talking
about
the
kind
of
thing
that
was
constantly
happening
on
the
Jerusalem
to
Jericho
road.
In
the
light
of
all
this,
the
Bible
calls
on
each
and
every
one
of
us
to
bring
about
justice,
for
where
there
is
no
justice,
there
is
no
peace.
Justice
simply
means
giving
to
each
person
what
is
his
due.
It
is
one
of
the
essential
Christian
virtues;
hence,
it
must
be
at
the
heart
of
Christian
life.
In
the
Old
Testament;
we
read
that
injustice
causes
trouble
and
confusion
in
society.
On
the
other
hand,
justice
brings
peace
and
harmony.
For
example,
in
the
book
of
Job
and
in
the
Proverb
we
read
that
when
people
act
justly
there
is
peace
and
harmony
with
workers
(Job
31:13).
People
who
are
just
live
at
peace
with
their
neighbors
and
a
joy
to
their
family
(Job
31:1-12,
Proverbs
23:24).
In
the
Bible,
the
prophet
Isaiah
emphasizes
the
connection
between
Justice
and
Peace.
Isaiah
denounces
those
whose
"plans
are
sinful
plots,
violence
is
their
only
method,
they
know
nothing
of
the
way
of
peace,
there
is
no
justice
in
their
paths
and
no
one
who
follows
them
knows
no
peace"
(Is.
59:6-8).
Since
peace
is
an
ingredient
of
the
Christian
life,
let
us
ask
for
this
Peace
using
the
prayer
of
St.
Francis
of
Assisi.
"Lord,
Make
us
instruments
of
your
peace.
Where
there
is
hatred,
let
us
sow
love;
Where
there
is
injury,
pardon;
Where
there
is
discord,
union
Where
there
is
doubt,
faith;
Where
there
is
despair,
hope;
Where
there
is
darkness,
light;
Where
there
is
sadness,
joy;
For
your
mercy
and
truth's
sake.
O
Divine
Master,
grant
that
we
may
not
so
much
seek
to
be
consoled
as
to
console,
To
be
understood
as
to
understand,
To
be
loved
as
to
love,
For
it
is
in
giving
that
we
receive,
It
is
in
pardoning
that
we
are
pardoned,
It
is
in
dying
that
we
are
born
to
eternal
life".
(St.
Francis
of
Assisi).