By Christopher Ambe & Sheron Tita
His Lordship Michael Miabesue Bibi, aged about 50, was on Tuesday January 5, appointed by His Holiness Pope Francis as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Buea, in replacement of Bishop Immanuel Bushu, who retired in December 2019 after serving in that capacity since 2007.
Monseigneur
Bibi is the 5th Bishop of Buea
Catholics in Buea, in euphoria, described the appointment
of the new bishop as timely enough for the reinforcement the unity of the
Diocese.
When
Bishop Bushu retired at the age of 75, the Pope appointed Bishop Michael
Miabesue Bibi as the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Buea. He served
as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Buea and Auxiliary Bishop of the
Arch Diocese of Bamenda until his new function as Chief Shepherd of the Diocese
of Buea.
The
news of Bishop Bibi’s appointment as Bishop of Buea was broken to a huge
congregation of Catholic Christians on January 5 at the Regina Cathedral in
Small Soppo, Buea by the Arch Bishop of the Bamenda Arch Diocese, His Grace
Andrew Nkea
Bishop
Bibi was born on July 28, 1971 in Bamessing, Northwest region, ordained priest
on April 26, 2000. He studied in Cameroon and studied in the United Kingdom.
In January 24, 2017 he was appointed Auxiliary
Bishop of the Arch Diocese of Bamenda. He was consecrated Bishop on March 20,
2017 at St. Joseph Cathedral, Bamenda and later appointed Apostolic Administrator
of the Diocese of Buea Diocese on December 28, 2019.
Reacting
immediately after his appointment, Bishop
Bibi said of the challenge given him: “I know that with support from the Grace
of God and collaboration with the priests and all the religious in the Diocese
of Buea, I will continue to work in
order to make the Diocese to continue to be what it supposed to be.”
The
Arch Bishop of the Diocese of Bamenda Diocese, Andrew Nkea, used the ceremony
to shed light on duties of Bishop Michael Bibi
functioning as an apostolic
administrator and his becoming a diocesan
bishop.
The
Arch Bishop said “being an apostolic administrator, he was governing the Diocese
in the name of the Holy Father (Pope Francis) and was not a stable pastor for,
at any time the Holy Father could ask him to [leave] the diocese; but now he is
the stable Bishop of the Diocese of Buea and is going to govern the diocese in
his own name as the local pastor and as the local ordinance.”
Professor
Victor Julius Ngoh, President of the Catholic
University institute of Buea(CUIB)
voiced out his expectations from the new Bishop: “ I expect him to continue
with the good work he started and working very closely with his priests,
religious and the various heads of institutions in the Diocese of Buea; and of
course, work very closely with Bamenda bishops so that as one they can
re-enforce the unity of the catholic church not only in Bamenda Ecclesiastical province but also in the country.”
For his part, Emeritus Bishop of Diocese of
Buea, Immanuel Bushu,who attended the annunciation of the new Bishop, said,“ I don't
expect anything; the catholic church is the same for everybody, every time.
When you come in, you just continue what your predecessor was doing.”
It
would be recalled that as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Buea and
Proprietor of Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB), Bishop Bibi had made
appointments in CUIB mid-2020, which sparked off a protest by some disgruntled
ex-officials of the institute.
But
unshaken by the opposition, Bishop Bibi invoked the Code of Canon law and the
specific instructions given to him by the Holy See, bringing his challengers to
order while forging ahead with his assigned duties; His duty-consciousness attracted
the admiration of the Catholic Community and the general public.
His
appointment as the new Bishop of the Diocese of Buea, to many, was the good
news they had been waiting for.
The four who preceded him were:
Bishop Peter Rogan(1950-1962); Bishop Jules Peeters (1962-1973); Bishop Pius Suh
Awa (1973-2007); and Bishop Immanuel Bushu (2007-2019)
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