Cameroon is a bilingual country with several ethnic groups, whose diversified culture tends to bring out the rich beauty of the Cameroonian people. This diversity extends deep down into how they practice their Catholic faith. The Catholic Church with Vatican Council II encouraged enculturation in the Eucharistic celebration. The Cameroonian Catholics in the United States do make use of this opportunity given by the Church in keeping their faith strong and lively.
The Cameroon Catholic Community Apostolate (CCCA) in the USA is a community that has existed for a few years now. It is made up of several smaller communities found in most of the states in America. Prominent Cameroon cultural groups include the Bamenda, Bamileke and the Bangwa. These groups are always there to portray the general African style during major liturgical celebrations such as weddings, Bishops' visits, Consecration of new members into certain Devotional groups, like the Catholic Women Association (CWA).
The place of music and dancing in all African celebration is always unique. This is very integral to African culture in general and very relevant to religious worship. In this context, what Psalm 149: 3 says 'let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with timbrel and harp' and what St. Augustine says 'He who sings prays twice' is very much applicable to the Cameroon style of worship.
Another peculiar aspect in the Cameroonian liturgical activities is the length of their Masses which are seemingly too lengthy. This has made some none Africans think that Africans in general do not have a sense of time.
There is no reason whatsoever to discuss why an activity is short or lengthy because time for the Africans has no academic concern. It is typically linked to the people's social life-style as embed in their culture. It is in this effect that Martin Nkafu makes the following assertion which would be very relevant to our understanding of why the Africans seem not to worry much about time when they get on with their liturgical and other practices.
'In the African way of thinking, there has never been a moment that time was not linked to relationship between man and the rest of the universe, and to life in its multiple forms. Therefore, it is impossible to speak of time as of an entity by itself that can condition and make someone lose something absolutely. ...Since African time is present moment, we cannot but say that it is a predicate of reality itself.' (M. N. Nkemnkia, Phenomenological Research, Vol. LIX, 118).
Time, therefore, is not to be understood as a commodity or money that is possessed and spent and one cannot say for example that one has lost or spent too much time. Time is a fundamental element of reality itself. The normal principle holds, that "time is expensive", but a traditional African would dispute the fact that there is an absolute necessity to accomplish a time for the mere reason that it was foreseen or programmed that way. Time is expensive mainly because it enables one to be consumed by others. Time belongs to life and life belongs to God. This is how liturgical time is understood; it is time given to God who is the one who gives life.
For the Cameroonians, therefore, as for Africans in general, time goes with a deep degree of understanding within situations on which it is employed. It is the quality of time, that is, what is achieved at the time that matters, and not the time as a concept. In this case, we can talk about the joy of the celebration. With the above background, it is interesting to notice the following comparison that Orville Boyd Jenkins makes between the Western world and the Africans:
In the Western view, an event is a component of time. As time moves, you must use it or lose it. If you do not use it, it is gone... In the African view, time is not something. Life is made up of events, defined by relationships. Time is a component of the event... (O. B. Jenkins, "Time, a Cultural Concept", Focus on Communication Effectiveness (1998), of February 1998).
Consequently, there is the necessity of getting African priests to handle African communities, without which conflicts would always be evident stemming from such cultural diversities.
Following my appointment as the new Adviser for the CCCA, there has been some development in bringing the various Cameroonian Catholics together, whether they are members of the different Cameroon Catholic communities or not. The necessity to nourish and keep them going in the Catholic faith was an urgent imperative. Various ways have been used to achieve this including: A WhatsApp group, twitter account, Gmail account, Facebook account and a Website.
There are several different activities being run in the different means of communication. For instance, there is a weekly quiz with a prize, there is a debate forum on issues of the faith, weekly Sunday Reflections, and several other aspects that could be discovered in being part of the Apostolate. The apostolate is essentially and strictly for the growth and sustenance of the faith and edifications on moral issues. Eventually, I will go around meeting with the various communities.
Conversant with the other pastoral responsibilities in my Parish, there was a need to have a team of volunteer coordinators to facilitate the management of the Apostolate. The volunteers have been very phenomenal and a blessing to this Apostolate. With the development of an Organigram for the Apostolate, everybody is made to have a role to play, and will be involved in the team work which is very much cherished should any organization expect to succeed.
We hope and pray this Apostolate grows from strength to strength.
Fr. Peter Nouck Kaldjob
Adviser, Cameroon Apostolate, U.S.A.
