Mgr. Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu, was talking to issues that was still making waves across Cameroon out of the Pope’s visit to that country. He granted an exclusive interview to AfricaNews.

Our reporter Walter Nana Wilson had an exclusive with Mgr. Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu. Here are excerpts of the interview.

Walter: What is your reaction having participated in the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Cameroon?

Bishop: I feel good. It has been a wonderful experience that the Holy Father had another opportunity to be back in Africa, through Cameroon. The preparations and the celebrations in Yaounde were good.

Walter: What was the motivation of the Pope’s visit?

Bishop: The key thing was to strengthen the faith of catholic believers in Cameroon and the African continent in general. More importantly, was the presentation of the working document of the next synod of the Bishops of Africa. We are going to discuss the church in Africa come October 4-25 in the Vatican. This was the first time Pope Benedict was coming to the African Continent.

Walter: Do you have the working document as the Bishop of Buea Diocese?

Bishop: Yes! I do.

Walter: From now to October 4-25, what will you be doing with the document?

Bishop: The document is supposed to be studied. The delegates, who are going for the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, will be given sometime to present certain topics they have prepared. The lay people of the church will also be given an opportunity to chip in some ideas on the working document.

Walter: What will you be watching out for as you study the document?

Bishop: The document is dealing with three main topics that will be discussed at the synod in the Vatican. These include; Reconciliation, Justice and Peace. We are watching for these and to see what details will constitute part of the discussions.

Walter: What have you taken home after the Pope’s visit?

Bishop: The Pope realized that the church was very strong. He encouraged us to keep up the strength of the church; we should do better than we are doing now. He talked to us on the various aspects of the church’s life; the Priesthood, the church, Christian families, catholic families and the great Saint Joseph, who is the Pope’s patron saint.

Walter: How will you react to the western media comments on the Pope’s declaration of the futility of condoms?

Bishop: As a catholic church, we do not discuss condoms. It hasn’t got a place. What the church is dealing with is not head-counting. The church is talking about spiritual and moral issues, which are of the highest order. We are dealing with human lives. You cannot tinker with human live and the doctrine of the church. The Holy Father’s task is to conserve and preserve that doctrine and hand it on to everybody as the word of God tells us to do and as the church teaches. There are no second thoughts about the position of the Pope. Nobody can change that, being a true catholic. Since he is the guardian of the church’s teachings; The Magisterium as we call it, he would not do otherwise and answered the way he did. We are not looking at the western media as an example to emulate.

The Pope said many good things, did wonderful celebrations and all we have from the western media during his visit to Cameroon is his nonchalance stance on the condoms as the western media claims. The western media cannot claim that the Pope does not want to change; he (the Pope) is punishing the African people by not doing that. Whether the Pope is punishing or not punishing, the African people know what to do about family and more. If they (African people) want to use condoms, they are free. The Holy Father is only telling us the mind of the church and God’s words on the matter. Those are not issues for us to discuss.

Walter: How will you react to some observers of the Catholic Church in Cameroon who think that the church is not communicating enough on the circumstances of the death of some of their Priests?

Bishop: What can the church really give? If we claim to be in a state of law, that means we are respecting that, then the church procedure should be allowed to take its course. We have been making attempts to get through the legal means to find out these things and as we talk, there have been no head way. That is where we are really and with the present circumstances, we cannot talk of what is not a fact. The Bishop Emeritus of Garoua was killed, Sisters, Priests were killed. We have been very concerned about that but we cannot jump the law. If the people who are in the law and the legal system cannot help us, then we have to wait. Time solves everything. We cannot be giving information that is not true. That is where we are.

Walter: What stops the church from doing its own investigations? How will you do that?

Bishop: When you are investigating, there are certain things that you must work out with the national system. That is the state legal systems that carry out these things. Even when you are working as a private group, you must work with the state systems. We are a church and we will want to follow a system that will give us results that are useful to everybody. So, we cannot jump out and start doing private investigations. It is not possible in this country.

Walter: What is your take on the name TB Joshua?

Bishop: I cannot say much about TB Joshua, the Nigerian. I have heard from a few people that he (Joshua) claims to be a prophet, he is healing people and doing miracles. Others have said that he is a charlatan and a fake prophet. In Nigeria, he is little known. We have talked with some of the Priests from Nigeria they do not seem to know much about him. Since the television beams out the images he is producing from Nigeria, to the outside world, he seems to make his name out of Nigeria than in the country.

Those from Cameroon, who have watched him on television and seen some of his miracles on television, have gone there and come back very disappointed and will not want to make a second trip to Nigeria because of that man. I do not think that he is somebody we need to pay attention to. A lot of people say, I do not know much about it, that the scenes of the television are repeated many times in the course of the month. Miracles are things that reveal the power of God other wise; it is revealing devil power. If it is God’s power, then you do not need the television for that. It spreads itself out; people will be clamouring to know about it than go and seat and be listening to stories being told.

Walter: What is the Catholic Church in Cameroon doing to put a stop to this encroachment from the Pentecostal churches?

Bishop: We need to give the people the exact knowledge of their faith. If they do know, then people will not abandon their church. Because many do not know their faith, they are not living it that is why any wind that comes their way, takes them along. We are preparing people to deepen their faith. In places where the Priests are working very hard, they teach Christian doctrine to the people, the parishes do not lose any body. But where the Priests are not really doing that, they whole parish is in chaos and the people go out into the wild, some times to sects.