This weekend, I honor the fond memories of Bishop Pius Awa, who passed away ten years ago. It so happens that I was the very last priest he ordained before his retirement and eventually passed away ten years later, on February 9, 2014. Bishop Awa served the church in Cameroon in a vast territory of the Diocese of Buea, from which two other dioceses have been carved out. At the time, many mission churches were inaccessible by motorable roads. He often walked for several hours, carrying his backpack and Mass kit. In one of the villages in Bakossiland, he stepped on a hanging bridge, daring! On his missionary journeys, he climbed the hills of Akwaya, Mbeme, Baseng, Ngwandi, and Nyandong.
My fondest memories of him include his mastery of local languages, especially his translation of the English editions of the lectionaries to pidgin English. As our pidgin English instructor at Bishop Rogan High School, he was a genuinely patient teacher. His lectures were casual but profound.
Whenever I met with him as a seminarian and eventually a priest, He would welcome me in my native language and share one or two stories about my tribe and his encounters with my late father while they were in the Holy Family Seminary in Sasse College. What stuck with me to this day is how he walked me through my fears of taking up the editorial chief position of the periodical of our local church province, "Cameroon Panorama."
I walk into his office:
Bishop Pius: Amue(Bakossi man)
Me: Yes, My Lord
Bishop: dieh seh(Have a seat)
Me: I take my seat
Bishop: Assange, chan mekan?(Good Morning, how are you?)
Me: Meh keh bwam(I am fine)
That was the opening of our conversion in late April 2005 when the Bishop expressed his wish for me to enroll in the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Buea in Cameroon. My reaction was cold, and he noticed how perturbed I was. I would rather run football commentaries than write monthly editorials. I did not believe I had the requisite writing skills of an editor of a paper of that pedigree, and I did not like to learn it either. Besides, as a people person, I would have preferred to continue ministry in the parish, where I had developed a passion for working with people in mission territories.
As I agitated, the Bishop walked me through my concerns for nearly an hour. He used the opportunity to share his fears before becoming editor of the same paper many years ago. In the conversation, he mentioned how he understood that I would have preferred to undertake communication studies in Rome like other priests. However, he believed I did not have to because he was confident that I would be well-equipped by the time I completed my studies at the local university; then he assured me of his plans for me to travel to the USA for an internship at EWTN (Eternal Word Television Network). I left his office convinced that everything would be fine. That began my Journalism journey; the rest is the icing on the cake.
Bishop Pius Awa served as Bishop for 35 years and died at 84. As I honor the Bishop's memory, I am thankful to God for his dedicated service in the local church of Cameroon and for discerning that I could write, and here I am, writing. Adieu, Bishop Awa.
* Rev. Wilfred Epie Emeh is a priest of the Diocese of Kumba in Cameroon and a Coordinator with Mission Arise
