A Church full of African Catholics, many from Cameroon, gathered at St. Camillus Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, Sept. 5 to festively celebrate a visit by one of their own, Bishop Jerome Feudjio of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, who became the first African-born bishop serving in the United States in April.
The joyous liturgy featured components more typical in African Catholic Churches than in the United States, such as a procession to present the lectionary, as well as jubilant singing and even some dancing in a sanctuary that was as full as COVID-19 precautions would allow.
Sister Joanna Okereke, assistant director for Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers at the Secretariat of Cultural Diversity at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Bishop Feudjio’s appointment as a bishop and his willingness to meet with Catholics from Africa around the United States is important for cultural reasons as well as to help foster connections to the Church in this country’s immigrant community.
Sister Joanna, a native of Nigeria who is a Sister of the Handmaids of the Holy Child Jesus, said that when she started working at the USCCB, she hoped to “walk with African Catholics” and to see one of them become a bishop. “Fifteen years ago, I started praying for that to happen,” she said. “When I heard he was named, I was so happy. I thought, the Lord has heard my prayers.”
Bishop Feudjio, who was born in Cameroon, came to the United States as a young adult, interrupting his seminary studies after a brother died to help his family by joining another brother who lived in the U.S., he said in his homily.
Opening and closing with the call-and-response of “God is good. All the time. All the time. God is Good,” Bishop Feudjio gave a wide-ranging sermon that touched on the role of African Catholics in the Church, his time in the Washington area as a young man, his path to becoming a bishop and the Gospel message of joy and “do not be afraid.”
He spoke to the congregation as “my dear African brothers and sisters in the diaspora,” and noted the participation of nearly two dozen concelebrating African-born priests.
“I come to you as a pilgrim,” he said. “It has really been a pilgrimage for me from when I left Cameroon to when I am standing here as the bishop of the U.S. Virgin Islands.”
When he first came to Washington in 1980, “I wanted to see what I could do to keep my family together.” He arrived with plans to get a job and go to school. “We lived six in one room,” he said. “But we managed.” He attended Oblate College, then part of the Washington Theological Consortium, to finish his philosophy and theology studies, and joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate in 1987, making temporary religious profession. He will celebrate his 66th birthday Sept. 30.
In 1990, he was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of St. Thomas, and he took on increasing responsibilities there including traveling with his bishops to the United States regularly, speaking at parishes about the Catholic Church in the Virgin Islands and asking for financial support.
“When I visited parishes with the bishops I saw few Black faces in the Churches,” he said, adding that the pastors spoke in glowing terms about how the Blacks in their parishes contributed to the community. He urged his fellow African immigrants to continue to be active in their parishes, even if they feel outnumbered. “Make a difference wherever the Lord puts you. Let your pastor see that you are special,” he said.
The evening before the Mass, he met with representatives of various African Catholic communities, where he listened to people describe the challenges of being in a new country, with family too far away and where Churches often feel unfamiliar and sometimes unwelcoming.
Sister Joanna said that in the gathering of about 40 people the prevailing theme was “how can we be united?” Originally a large cultural celebration was being planned to follow the Mass, but it was canceled because of rising rates of coronavirus infections.
Bishop Feudjio was invited to Maryland by the African Catholic Association of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, which worked with representatives from multiple African countries to plan a liturgy that reflected traditions of Cameroon and other nations.
Sister Joanna said the lectionary procession is common in many African countries, bringing the Word of God into the congregation. In this case, the person carrying the lectionary and other members of the procession wore traditional clothing, sang, beat a rhythm on a cone-shaped instrument and carried other objects familiar in Cameroonian liturgies.
The elaborate wardrobes worn by many in the congregation – kente cloth, batik, detailed embroidery, prints of Marian organizations – reflected people’s countries of origin, including Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya.
In a brief interview with the Catholic Standard, archdiocesan newspaper of Washington, Bishop Feudjio spoke of how he intended to serve as a liaison between the African Catholic diaspora and the larger Church. He said that “as a member of the (USCCB) it will enable me to represent the needs of people, just as a bishop might bring forward the needs of Spanish speakers or French speakers” to the body of bishops.
“I will not hesitate to do that,” he said.
