The inculturation theory of the Roman Catholic Church is conflicting with the traditional culture of the Nso people in the Bui Division of the North West Region. In a sternly worded letter to the Bishop of Kumbo Diocese, Mgr. George Nkuo, the Nso Cultural and Development Association, (NSODA), has warned against what it describes as desecration of their culture by the Catholic Church in name of inculturation.
NSODA is an umbrella association that promotes and protects the tradition and culture of the Nso Kingdom. The association’s letter to the bishop of the Kumbo on June 4 comes after widely circulated videos showed some sacred masquerades of the Nso people displaying in churches of the diocese – what NSODA considers an erosion of their culture.
“We have not been oblivious to the efforts your Diocese has been making to the development of the Nso Kingdom, and the evangelization works that have been shaping our society,” the NOSDA letter signed by its president General, Tadze Adamu Mbiydzela reads in part. It says the people of Nso remain “indebted and sincerely grateful” to the Local Ordinary of the Kumbo Diocese for the abovementioned.
Inculturation wantonly and severely abused
However, NSODA expressed resentment that the very lofty idea of inculturation has been “wantonly and severely abused” by the Catholic Church in the Nso land under the watchful eye of the Bishop.
“The avalanche of those abuses inundated social media with shocking desecration of our culture and tradition,” NSODA states. “A few instances which have caught our attention are moot shows in the Church or Catholic premises of our highly cherished sacred masquerades like the Wanmabuh, the Yee Ngwerong, the Kikum, the Kirang Ke Ngiri etc”.
NSODA further says: “We are totally dismayed that if care is not taken to protect our cultural heritage, which is our identity, then, with the passage of time, our culture will be completely eroded in the guise of inculturation”.
The Nso body polity, NSODA said, “is built from her cultural heritage which, if not seriously protected, shall be lost, and Nso as a kingdom be eroded into an irretrievable abyss.”
The socio-cultural and development association says it behoves them to strongly denounce to the prelate what it terms “these provocative moot displays of our culture on Catholic premises and elsewhere under the guise of inculturation”.
NSODA has “respectfully” called on the bishop to “caution and counsel Catholic Christians or whoever is under your diocese to consequently refrain from those moot displays of our cultures in the name of inculturation.”
NSODA to seek court action if…
The association says they will consider court action to protect what they consider “sacred and sanctity in our culture” should those moot displays continue.
The Kumbo diocese had yet to comment on the NSODA letter at the time of this report and the Spokesperson of National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon did not respond to our request for comments.
The Diocese of Kumbo is made up of two civil administrative units, namely, Bui and Donga Mantung Divisions and is considered one of the densely populated Catholic dioceses in Cameroon.
Even in Nkambe, the headquarters of the Donga Mantung Division, it is common to see sacred masquerades display in the Catholic Church or around church premises. The visit of the Bishop is always characterized by the display of sacred masquerades with even the dreaded Nko’oh literally rubbing shoulders with the prelate.
One of the largest ethnic groups in the country, Nso is known for its rich cultural heritage. Many Cameroonians also consider the Nso land a stronghold of Christianity with the primary religion being Roman Catholicism. The land has also produced some prominent people in the church including the first ever cardinal of Cameroonian origin; the late Cardinal Christian Wiyghan Tumi, Archbishop Paul Verdzekov; the late Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda and Bishop Immanuel Banlanjo Bushu, Emeritus Bishop of Buea.
