African Christian Cardinal Tumi to visit St. Jude Catholic Church in Allen

Cardinal Tumi of Cameroon will celebrate Mass at St. Jude on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m., followed by a reception in the Parish Life Center featuring traditional African dishes prepared by members of the African community at St. Jude. The music for Mass will be provided by the African Choir, formed in 2009, at St. Jude under the direction of Felix Aniobi.

There are approximately 40 Cameroonian parishioners at St. Jude. Together, they sent a request to Cardinal Tumi to come and visit them here in Allen. They wanted the Cardinal to see firsthand that all the hard work he spent building this spiritual community continues on. "We are on a different continent, thousands of miles from home," said Mary Takwa, a St. Jude parishioner from Cameroon, "but because of the faith he passed on to us – we were able to carry it with us when we made a new home here."

Takwa said, "We come from the same hometown – Banso. The Banso people are primarily Catholic and very spiritual. Tumi was a humble giant – highly intelligent, but able to communicate in ways that reached us and helped shape our lives.

"I heard him preach when I was still in high school," Takwa recalled. "He visited our school, Our Lady of Lourdes Secondary School, on numerous occasions. Then he was Fr. Tumi," she continued. "What made him so remarkable to the people of Cameroon is that he embraces all people. He never made distinctions between Catholic or Muslim or Presbyterian. He sees everyone, without exception, as a child of God."

"Cardinal Tumi’s visit to St. Jude is an honor to the entire parish. It is amazing that he devotes his time to championing education and being a voice for the voiceless in our society. Parishioners and the community are going to be blessed by his presence," said Fr. Eugene Okoli, parochial vicar at St. Jude.

In a statement, Cardinal Tumi said, "I am going to America to raise awareness and solicit both technical and material assistance for the formation of our youth in our local Catholic University. However, this is also another opportunity to celebrate the diversity and the universality of the Church. So, while in America I will try to meet Africans where they are, in their respective faith communities, and together we shall share with the American people, wherever possible, our unique experience of being an African Church."

"I also hope to come home enriched by the American faith experience," said Tumi.

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