“Even though this is my first trip to Cameroon, I believe that we have drawn closer to another Church through these experiences,” he says.

Bishop Deeley was invited to Cameroon by Bishop George Nkuo, a sign of the deepening relationship between the Diocese of Kumbo and the Diocese of Portland. Currently, 12 priests from the Diocese of Kumbo are serving in Maine, many of them as pastors.

“He has sent us priests who were working for him in some top positions. He sent us some of his best priests,” says Bishop Deeley.

 The relationship between the two dioceses began about nine years ago. Bishop Deeley says that Bishop Nkuo had come here for a missionary appeal and, impressed by his experience of the diocese, he inquired about the possibility of sending some priests here to give them experience outside their home diocese, something he had found valuable for his own priesthood, having done postgraduate studies in Ireland.

“It’s a new experience for some of them, and they are learning a lot, and that is exactly what I wanted,” Bishop Nkuo said during a visit to Maine in 2023. “I think it will help them and enrich them when they go back to ministry in Cameroon.”

“It’s been helpful not only for his priests, but it’s also been helpful for our people as they experience another culture,” Bishop Deeley says.

Bishop Deeley was accompanied on his trip to Cameroon by Father Anthanasius Wirsiy, pastor of St. Brendan the Navigator Parish in Camden, who is from the Diocese of Kumbo. The pair left on April 21 for a journey that included 16 hours in the air and another eight hours on the road.

“We’re not talking highways. We’re talking back roads in Maine in spring, where water has kind of made them slushy and rutted,” Bishop Deeley says.

While the ride was a bit bumpy, Bishop Deeley says the welcome he received more than made up for it.

“The welcome everywhere was very, very warm, and the people were just exuberant. You could feel the joy of their faith,” he says. “

There was a tremendous greeting in which the sisters who work in the diocesan offices, which are all around the bishop’s house, and the priests, and everybody else came to greet me, to welcome me, to sing me in, to dance me in, to bless me, and do all these wonderful things. They couldn’t have been kinder, from the priests to the bishop to the people in the sacristies and the people I was talking with along the way. They were all just so nice.”

It was the kind of welcome he would experience again the next day before the ordination Mass. He remembers planning to get to the church early to meet the master of ceremonies and familiarize himself with his surroundings, only to have Bishop Nkuo tell him that wouldn’t be possible because they had to arrive in enough time to be welcomed in.

“He said, ‘They’re all waiting for you,’” recalls Bishop Deeley. “All the people, representatives of all the organizations, everyone came down the driveway with their organizational headdresses and tribal outfits with feathers, all kinds of things to welcome me in. They all escorted me into the church.”

While the ordination rite and Mass are universal, Bishop Deeley says that the celebration differed in that there was more singing and dancing, so much so that the Mass lasted for four hours and 40 minutes.

“It is singing and movement, and there are many processions. Numerous people participate, and they bring forth gifts and things,” Bishop Deeley says. “It’s filled with joy and filled with hope. It was just so wonderful to hear all of this and see it.”

Bishop Deeley says he was particularly struck by the joy of the people because of the hardships they face daily. That part of Cameroon has been the center of civil strife and violence. Bishop Deeley says although he never felt unsafe while he was there, he was awoken by gunfire one morning, and their car was stopped a few times during which demands were made for money.

“I speak of the political and social problems only because I think it’s important to see that their faith is so alive and strong, even in the difficulties that they are facing,” Bishop Deeley says. “It’s a struggle for the people. They pray for a resolution to the social and political situation.”

Bishop Deeley credits Bishop Nkuo and the Church in the Diocese of Kumbo for being a stabilizing force.

“What is important to realize is that the Church continues to do everything that it does without stopping. The state schools are still closed in many places because that’s what the rebels wanted. They burned down some of the schools and kidnapped some of the teachers and threatened others because they want to destroy the possibility of the state continuing. But the bishop, who is an educator himself, would hear nothing of that. He insisted that the Catholic schools remain open,” says Bishop Deeley. “He understands the importance of keeping the schools open. They have a significant impact on the young and the community.”

On the day after the ordination, Bishop Deeley visited a middle and high school, where he was presented with the gift of a beautiful vestment.

“We had a marvelous time there. They were teaching me the steps of a dance and everything else. It was just a wonderful, wonderful day,” Bishop Deeley says.

During the bishop’s time in Cameroon, he also visited St. Elizabeth Catholic General Hospital Shisong, a state-of-the-art facility operated by the Tertiary Sisters of St. Francis, led by Sister Olivia Waika, the provincial superior.

“The sisters were involved in all aspects of care. One sister was the administrator, one sister was the chief of nursing, and one was the cardiologist. That’s the level at which the sisters ran the hospital,” Bishop Deeley says.

Bishop Deeley’s time in Cameroon also included meeting the Sisters of St. Michael the Archangel, a Polish missionary order, and visiting the minor seminary, where Father Roland Berngeh, now the pastor of St. Kateri Tekakwitha Parish in Calais, served as its first president and which Father Wirsiy also formerly led. Bishop Deeley also had the opportunity to travel to Father Wirsiy’s home and to meet his father, Cletus Wirsiy, and sister Belinda Shunso, something the bishop called a special blessing.

“I was thrilled to be able to meet one of the parents of the priests serving here and to have the opportunity to thank him for allowing his son to be out here with us. It connected me with the sacrifice made by the families of our priests of any nation,” Bishop Deeley says.

In addition to the ordination Mass, Bishop Deeley celebrated Sunday Mass in Nkambe-town, located in a different part of the Diocese of Kumbo. Once again, he says the welcome could not have been warmer. 

Bishop Deeley says for Cameroonian Catholics, Sunday is a day dedicated to God. He says the Mass was about three and a half hours long, with the offertory alone taking about an hour because people from different villages all processed to the front of the church to present their gifts of money and food. After the Mass, parishioners stayed to eat and then to participate in catechesis and devotions, such as the Rosary and Benediction.

“What struck me is that the men and the women were equally excited about being in church. It was lovely,” he says. 

Bishop Deeley says it reminded him a bit of his days growing up in Belmont, Massachusetts, where the Church was the center of family life.

“The social life was around the parish, so in some ways, it brought me back,” he says. “That is the life people lived in those days, and it is the life that the people of Kumbo are living now, but it’s even deeper.”

The people not only keep the Lord’s Day, but they also gather in their own communities during the week to pray, share the word of God, and offer support to one another. 

“Seeing the faith lived in the life of the people was absolutely wonderful. And it finds a reality in the way they treat each other and the care they give to each other, the sharing that goes on in their lives. I just think that was beautiful to witness,” he says. “How they find a place in their lives to be so joyful in their faith when things are so challenging around them was beautiful to see.”

He says it was a powerful reminder that “faith is not just something we do on Sunday. It’s something that should permeate our lives and our relationships with others.”