The Director of Communications is responsible for the formation of the Social Communication Commission at all levels of the Archdiocese (Small Christian Community, Mission Station, Parish, Deanery, Archdiocesan). Each of these services has their manager, but all of them fall under the direct supervision of the Director of Communications.
The Social Communication Commission in the Archdiocese begins at the level of the Small Christian Community (SCC) right up to the Archdiocesan level where, at each level, those with interest and talent for communications are elected to document, report and give news about their respective communities. The Director of Communications coordinates all these activities. The Director also sees to it that there are regular formation sessions and meetings of these commissions at various levels. There are weekly meetings for the commission at the level of the SCC, Mission Station and Parish since they need to put information together that would be needed by the people when they assemble on Sunday. The Archdiocesan Director, together with some skilled personnel, go round the various Deaneries once a year to give a full formation to the different Parish members of this commission.
It is the duty of the Director of Communications to see to it that Catholic News, Morning Devotion and various reports of the Communications Commission are broadcast not only in Radio and TV Evangelium, but in other Radio Stations in the Archdiocese of Bamenda and beyond. She is the official liaison person of the Archdiocese in all matters of communication.
9.2. Radio and TV Evangelium Bamenda
The Radio and Television are important and one of the most popular instruments of communication. In fact, almost every household in Cameroon has a radio and/or TV set. Hence, Radio Evangelium has been a veritable means of transmitting the good news to the Christians of the Archdiocese of Bamenda since 2012 when it went operational, and it is very much appreciated by the population. It continues to cover big and small events, taking the Good News to Parishes, Mission Stations, Small Christian Communities and homes.
The station boasts of 46 programs which are rich in content and meet the needs of the listeners. They include spiritual, educative, cultural, health, and call-in, interactive programmes which offer the listeners an opportunity to go beyond listening and become full participants.
Owing to the success of Radio Evangelium, the TV department went operational in 2020 and it proved a great help to the Faithful, especially during the outbreak of the corona virus pandemic and its hike in April 2021, proving a hindrance to the celebration of the Holy Week. The TV department continues to be improved upon to meet the standards and quality of a Catholic Television Network.
- The Archdiocesan Information Service (ARISE)
This Service consists, mainly, of the Printing Press for the production of the educational, catechetical and liturgical material, as well as other publications for the various institutions and parishes of the Archdiocese. It is a non-profit making enterprise at the service of the Archdiocese of Bamenda. The main aim of ARISE is to make its own contribution in the evangelizing mission through the print media. It assures the printing of the Sunday newsletters, Magazines, books for schools, souvenir cards, invitation cards, hospital cards and books, funeral programmes, wedding programmes, calendarium, posters, calendars, just to name a few. The entire personnel of the press have been formed to discharge their duty in the spirit of the Gospel, through their availability to serve those who come to them. Structural and technical renovations, as well as managerial and personnel changes were recently made to upgrade the services offered by ARISE.
- The Archdiocesan Book Centre (ABC)
There is a great need of Christian literature in order to nourish and deepen the faith of the Faithful. In fact, there is a great thirst for the knowledge of God and spiritual nourishment by the young people. Consequently, a good number of them fall victims to sect and secret societies. Some of them get involved in the reading of indecent and pornographic literature. In order to answer this need, on Sunday 13th April, 2008 the Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda officially inaugurated the Archdiocesan Book Centre (ABC). In a Pastoral Letter, he introduced ABC as an “Apostolate” to bring Christ to others through the written word. It sells a wide variety of Christian Literature, especially those published by the Paulines and other Church items like Sacred Vessels and Vestments. The Book Centre also makes available text books for Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools, as well as textbooks needed by the students of the Catholic University of Cameroon (CATUC) – Bamenda.
- The Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate
The Second Vatican Council teaches, in the Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation, Dei Verbum, that “the Church has always venerated the divine Scriptures as she venerated the Body of the Lord, in so far as she never ceases, particularly in the sacred liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ. She has always regarded, and continues to regard the Scriptures, taken together with sacred Tradition, as the supreme rule of her faith” (Dei Verbum, n. 21). Through the Biblical Apostolate, we want to help the Christians to give the divine Scriptures the same veneration that they give to the Body of the Lord and to offer it to them as “the one table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ”. Pope Benedict XVI describes it as “a means of letting the Bible inspire all pastoral work” (Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, n. 73). In order to give the Sacred Scriptures the importance it deserves, our Provincial Pastoral Plan considers Gospel or Bible Sharing as an essential and integral part of the activities of the Small Christian Communities, and recommends the formation of the Biblical Apostolate Commission at all levels of the Archdiocese: SCC, Mission Station, Parish, Deanery and Archdiocesan.
A priest has been appointed as the Archdiocesan Coordinator of the Apostolate. He is responsible for the formation of the Biblical Apostolate Commission at all levels, and organizes formation sessions and seminars at different levels in order to assist the Lay Faithful to know and understand better the Scriptures, and to put it into practice in their everyday life. There is Gospel Sharing or reflection on the Word of God according to the Seven-Step method developed by the Lumko Pastoral Institute every week at the level of the Small Christian Community in order that the Word of God may become the source and inspiration of the life and activity of the Christian community. More recently, the Three-Step method of sharing (Look, Love, Listen) has also been introduced.
- The Archdiocesan Vocations Apostolate
In the Archdiocese of Bamenda, the Archdiocesan Youth Chaplain used to be in charge of the Vocations Apostolate, but, since 2006, a priest was appointed to take charge of the Archdiocesan Vocations Apostolate. One of the main duties of this Apostolate is to encourage vocations to the Priestly and the Religious Life. In each of the Parishes, there is a Vocations Group. This group is coordinated by the Archdiocesan Vocations Director and the other members of his team made up of Priests and Religious. The Archdiocesan Chaplain is responsible for the formation of the Vocations Apostolate Commission at all levels of the Archdiocese according to the Provincial Pastoral Plan.
Every year, they organize the Archdiocesan Vocations Camp. However, this camp could not be organized in 2019 and 2020 due to the security and health concerns of the Anglophone Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. During these camps, young boys and girls are introduced to the work and ministry of Diocesan Priests and of the various Religious Congregations found in and out of the Archdiocese of Bamenda. Most of the vocations that we have in the Archdiocese of Bamenda are the fruit of the organisation of these yearly camps. There has been a steady increase in vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life over the past years thanks to the work done by the Archdiocesan Vocations Director and his team and the various members of different congregations who participate in the camps.
- Archdiocesan Technical Services
In the Archdiocese of Bamenda, we have initiated some technical services that are meant to facilitate the work of evangelization and reduce expenditure in the realization of projects. These services include the Archdiocesan Construction Department, the Archdiocesan Catholic Mission Technical/Mechanical Centre, the Archdiocesan Wood/Carpentry Department and the Archdiocesan Bakery. We shall briefly present these services.
- The Archdiocesan Construction Department
This department was established in 2012. The department is made up of a team of the following persons: The Project Director and an architect and others at the discretion of the Local Ordinary. Its function is to oversee and follow up the proper execution of all construction projects of the institutions and Parishes of the Archdiocese. After the presentation and the approval of the projects by the Archbishop, this office begins with the designing of projects, the choice of site of projects, the acquisition of material for projects, and guarantees the general supervision of projects to completion.
With the establishment of this Office, good work is guaranteed in all aspects form choice of site to purchase of material and the completion of the structure at hand. The work of this department has helped a great deal to control wastage and assure quality realization of the projects of the Archdiocese.
- The Archdiocesan Wood/Carpentry Workshop
The Archdiocesan Wood/Carpentry Workshop is an annex of the Construction Department with which it was established at the same time. It is made up of carpenters working under the supervision of the Manager of this department. Its purpose is to produce good quality furniture for our Parishes, Institutions and Services at a very low cost. Most of our Church benches, School tables and Chairs and other furnishings are acquired thanks to the service of the carpentry workshop.
Because of the number of building projects that are going on, the demand on them is so much that they are unable to do all the furnishings required of them. Thanks be to God that with the creation of St Andrew’s Technical College, this problem is already being solved. St. Andrew’s Technical College has all that it requires to meet up with the demand of furniture in the Archdiocese.
- The Archdiocesan Catholic Mission Technical Centre
For an effective evangelization to take place, transportation is one of the basic necessities. Most, if not all our Parishes, institutions and Services in the Archdiocese of Bamenda have cars to facilitate their pastoral ministry. This Centre was established and run by the Mill Hill Brothers as a Diocesan Garage a long time ago for the maintenance of cars and equipment of diocesan institutions and parishes. But it has since developed into a training centre for young mechanics, many of whom, after three years of formation, find a job in town or start their own garages. It is run by a team of technicians in mechanics supervised by a manager and his assistant.
The main purpose of the Catholic Mission Technical Centre (Garage) remains the repair of diocesan vehicles and equipment at an affordable price. It assures the getting of motor spare parts at good prices, and ensures that Archdiocesan cars are repaired properly. This has helped a great deal to sustain the lifespan of most Archdiocesan cars. In collaboration with the Archdiocesan Vehicle Pool, it assists in buying, especially second-hand cars, for Parishes, Institutions and various services.
- The Archdiocesan Bakery
This is not a technical service in the strict sense of the word, but it is meant to facilitate the work of evangelization and reduce expenditure. With the creation of more secondary schools, and the increase in the number of students in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, it became necessary for the Archdiocese to have its own bakery in order to produce good quality bread at reasonable prices for the various colleges. For this reason, the Archdiocesan Bakery was started on the 5th August, 2008 with the main objective to supply bread to our colleges under clean and healthy conditions. This Bakery is run by a manager, assisted by a team of 13 workers.
When the Bakery started, local ovens were being used for production but now they have electric machines that have facilitated their work and enabled them to meet up with the needs and demands of the various Institutions. Some Christians around this vicinity also purchase bread
English