It is rather paradoxical that, although the Catholic church was formally implanted in Cameroon with the creation of the Apostolic Prefecture of Cameroon on March 18, 1890 by Pope Leon XIII, it is only 76 years later -October 31, 1966 - that Cameroon formally established diplomatic relations with the Holy See. The international status of Cameroon variously as a colony, trust territory or mandated territory is partly responsible for this situation. But formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican State or not, the Catholic church in Cameroon has or not, the exponential growth that, although the last among the mainstream Christian denominations to be implanted, it has grown rapidly in the past 120 years to become the largest Christian Church in the country with a membership in the threshold of five million.

The formalization of relations between the State of Cameroon and the Holy See opened a new chapter in church-State relations with the Church consolidating its role as an essential partner of government in a number of other areas such as education and health. With official ties with the Vatican, Cameroon also formally recognized its status as an entity in international law with the Pope not only as a Supreme moral authority on earth, but also as a Head of State.

These relations have been sustained rather well with the permanent presence of a Nuncio (or Papal Ambassador) beginning with the first Nuncio Monsignor Luigi Poggi appointed on October 31, 1966. Since then, eight other Nuncios have served in Yaounde: Mgr Ernesto Gallina (July 16, 1969 to April 9, 1971); Mgr Jean Jadot (May 15, 1971 to June 1973); Mgr Luciano Storero (June 30, 1973 to July 1976); Mgr Josip Uhac (October 7, 1976 to 1981); Mgr Donato Squicciarini (September 17, 1981 to July 1989); Mgr Santos Abril Y Castello (October 2, 1989 to February 24, 1996); Felix del Blanco Prieto (May 4, 1996 to January 5, 2003); Mgr Eliseo Antonio Ariotti (Since July 17, 2003).

It is significant that the first Papal representative in Yaounde Mgr Luigi Poggi rose to become a Cardinal. Born on November 25, 1917, he is the only surviving Nuncio among those who served in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Mgr Jean Jadot (Nuncio appointed in 1969) died last January 21, 2009 at the age of 99. Four other Nuncios of the early generation have recently died: Mgr Gallina, the second Nuncio, died on May 16, 2002. Mgr Luciano Storero, the fourth, died on September 26, 2000; Joseph Cardinal Uhac, the fifth nuncio, died on January 19, 1998 while Mgr Donato Squicciarini, the sixth Nuncio and one of the greatest architects in the recent expansion of the Catholic church in Cameroon, died on March 6, 2006. It was when he was in office between 1981 and 1989, that the Catholic Church in Cameroon was organized into four new ecclesiastical provinces and which was accompanied by the creation of several new dioceses.

Visits

The visit of the Pope is considered as one of the most eventful moments in the life of any local church. The church in Cameroon experienced a landmark event when Pope John Paul III came visiting from August 9 to August 14, 1985. Invited by both the Bishop's Conference and the Cameroon government, the visit had a dual pastoral and official form. The Pope visited the four ecclesiastical provinces of that time - Bamenda, Douala, Garoua and Yaounde. The immediate fallouts were the strengthening of the Catholic faith as grassroots level and, above all, the creation of the Yaounde Catholic Institute which has grown today into the Catholic University of Central Africa. President Paul Biya is a regular guest of the Vatican. His last visit to the Vatican was on April 8, 2005 for the obsequies of Pope John Paul II.

Just 10 years later, (September 14-16 1995) here was Pope John Paul II coming to Cameroon again. A rare privilege. This time, the Pope came to release his post-synodal exhortation on the church in Africa (Ecclesia in Africa). For his first outing in Africa, Pope Benedict XVI has chosen Cameroon again. From here, he will deliver the working document (Instrumentum Laboris) to African Bishops to prepare for the Synod of Bishops slated for Rome next October. Again, Cameroon is being selected as a launching pad for yet another important church event. This choice is symptomatic of the excellence of relations between Cameroon and the Holy See.