Cameroon bishops have chosen to work on the theme: "the family" for their 40th plenary Assembly work which started Wednesday April 15, at the Centre Jean XXIII of Mvolyé in Yaoundé. This work focusses especially on the family in the Cameroonian context, the teaching of bishops on this subject and on the family in the light of the word of God.

Opening the meeting in the presence of Archbishop Piero Pioppo, Apostolic Nuncio in Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, Cardinal Christian Tumi, the Minister for the advancement of women and the family, Marie-Thérèse Abéna Ondoa, and many other personalities, Bishop Samuel Kléda, Bishop of Douala and president of the national Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (CENC), indicated that they will not discuss doctrinal concepts during their work, but to see how to effectively proclaim the Gospel of the family and determine pathways of accompaniment of these cells, at a time where they are prey to many upheavals and threats.

The Archbishop of Douala, says that currently, families face many difficulties. "It is for this reason that we pray for them. Cameroon like other African countries, still consider marriage to fully involve the family.

We must therefore, illuminate all these values by the Gospel for the family to respond to its vocation, he details. Bishop Jean Mbarga, Metropolitan Archbishop of Yaoundé added that "the family is a constant cell and do not wait for crises to think or to strengthen. We must protect this unit. The Gospel reinforces this vision of family based on marriage, fertility, and the sacredness of the child and life.

These are values that we hold. For Bishop Bruno Ateba Edo, Bishop of Maroua-Mokolo, "the family occupies a very important place in our society. It is the base of the unit. In the far North, it faces a difficult situation. Fortunately, calm is returning. And for those who have lost their families marks, Caritas tries to combine them and redo the official documents ".

For all of these prelates, in fact, there is not another institution that can replace the family. "We reach out to the Government in support of this structure because of the role it plays in the education and training of citizens. The future of the State and the Church depends on it", informed the president of the CNTC.

Cameroon is not the first to address the issue of the family. His Holiness Pope Francis convened a Synod on the subject last year and in October in Rome.

The work in Yaoundé is thus designed to give Cameroon spokesman strong arguments to defend the country at this Synod's contribution. At the opening of the work yesterday, the bishops had a thought for the soldiers at the front. A Pontifical mass was said yesterday evening in the Basilica Mary Queen of the Apostles of Mvolyé.