BY MILDRED NDUM WUNG KUM
A pontifical Holy Mass would be celebrated on Thursday 30th January at the St Joseph’s Metropolitan Cathedral Mankon,Bamenda at 9am to officially open the process of beatification for late Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda, Paul Mbiybe Verdzekov. The Mass would be presided by the Apostolic Administrator of Bamenda Cornelius Fontem Esua. It is expected to bring together a huge number of Catholics and non Catholics including pastors and the laity to witness the beginning of the process of sainthood for Paul Verdzekov.
Saints are honoured as people who lived exemplary lives of virtue, are in heaven (triumphant church), can intercede for those living on earth (pilgrim church) as well as those in purgatory (suffering church). The saintly heritage is revered by Catholics but have also benefitted non Catholics who seek intercession of saints and who strive to mimic the saintly way of life.
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| Late Emeritus Archbishop Paul Verdzekov |
The entire Archdiocese of Bamenda and beyond is with all eyes fixed on the official opening of the process of beatificationo of the late Paul Verdzekov, pioneer Bishop and Archbishop of Bamenda. It shall be a landmark event in the spiritual calendar of the Archdiocese given that many shall behold what it means by the process of beatification for the very first time.
The program to announce the course of beatification for late Paul Verdzekov was recently issued by Cornelius Fontem Esua, Apostolic Administrator of Bamenda. The announcement has gone viral accross the social media thus it is now clear that all roads are leading to the St Joseph’s cathedral come Thursday January 30.
As Archbishop emeritus Cornelius Fontem Esua mounts the podium to officially announce that Paul Verdzekov is en route to sainthood , the contemporary Christian must be conscious of the significance.
The ceremony comes within the celebration of a jubilee year in the Bamenda Archdiocese noted as a year of abundant grace and extra ordinary favour. The launching of the beatification process thus comes to strengthen a faith which continues to be celebrated, lived and prayed.
The ceremony offers a valued moment for the young and the old, the Catholic and the none Catholic to ponder on the life of the late emeritus Archbishop Verdzekov who has been documented as a man to be venerated; an encyclopaedic mind, a Man of Faith and Integrity, a sacred orator, a secular wordsmith and what have you?
To announce the process of beatification for any candidate in the Catholic faith means
much commitment would follow; establishing accurate historic facts of the candidate’s life to demonstrate the way the candidate practiced the Christian virtues, show that members of the Church consider him or her to be holy and therefore worthy of veneration, gathering information – collecting documents and interviewing witnesses on the life, virtues, and reputation of sanctity of the candidate and attributing a miracle to the candidate’s intercession to name but these.
Thus the proclamation of Paul Verdzekov as one on the road to sainthood on Thursday 30th January 2020, means much would ensue.
The pontifical Holy Mass to launch the course of beatification thus becomes an all inclusive phase for Christians to participate in the process, journey alongside the reality and obtain the graces accorded by God through the church to guarantors of the faith.
It is also a moment to hail Archbishop emeritus Paul Verdzekov of blessed memory. The man who was born on January 22, 1931, ordained to the
priesthood on December 20, 1961. Was appointed bishop of the newly created diocese of Bamenda in August 13, 1970, received his episcopal consecration on November 8, 1970, became archbishop of Bamenda on March 18, 1982 when his diocese was raised to an Archdiocese, retired on January 23, 2006 and died in 2010 at the age of 79, as Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda.
God willing, the opening of Paul Mbiybe Verdzekov’s beatification prefigures a saint who like other saints would be a light worth emulating, a beacon of hope, an intercessor and a force of Union with God.