According to Agencia Fides, Father John Berinyuy Tatah, parish priest of Babessi, has been released, who was kidnapped along with his vicar on November 15 in the Southwest region of Cameroon, one of the areas most affected by the Anglophone separatist insurgency.
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Although no details have been given, the release took place on December 2, a few days after the ultimatum set by Mons. Andrew Nkea Fuanya, Archbishop of Bamenda, who had warned that all Catholic institutions in the area would be closed if the priest was not released before November 26. The archdiocese also organized a peaceful march the previous week to demand the release of the priest.
The facts: a separatist attack against two priests
Father John and his vicar were captured while returning from celebrating the inaugural mass of the PAX university institute in Ndop. According to Mons. Fuanya, both were intercepted in Baba I, a village located about 60 km from Bamenda, on the Bamenda–Nkambe ring road, near Babessi, by an armed group that identified itself as Ambazonia separatist fighters. The priests were taken to an unknown place.
On November 18, four priests and one layperson sent to negotiate their release were also kidnapped. The vicar, the four priests, and the layperson regained their freedom on November 20, but Father John remained detained.
A conflict that continues to strike the Church
The kidnapping of Father John adds to the long list of aggressions suffered by the Church in Cameroon, frequently caught between local communities, authorities, and separatist groups. Since the beginning of the Anglophone conflict, priests, nuns, and laypeople have repeatedly been the target of intimidations, extortions, and acts of violence.
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