This Content Is Only For Subscribers
The divine trip to the middle east came within the framework of activities to end the year of the Eucharist in the Bamenda archdiocese. The eight-days pilgrimage led by Archbishop Andrew NkEA of Bamenda, gave the faithful who took part, the opportunity to see and touch some places where Jesus is said to have performed some mind-blowing miracles in the history of humankind in the Bible. “To dip one’s toes in the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus rebuked the wind and calmed the water, to see the hill where he preached to the multitudes, to touch one’s hands on Calvary etc. added a whole new context to the spirituality of the pilgrims”. Said Fr. B. Asanji, partaker of the pilgrimage, and correspondent for EC. After spending over two hours at Tel Aviv upon arrival, the pilgrims were able to accustom themselves with their new environment, while preparing to enter Jerusalem which is just 54km away.
There was a need in this airport metropolis to get adapted to the climate and time difference of the new setting. Israel has two hours’ time difference ahead of Cameroon. Tel Aviv is the second most populated city in Israel after Jerusalem with an estimated population of 4,421,000 in 2023 according to populationStat. Socio-cultural differences became real to the pilgrims when they were schooled in Tel Aviv that Hebrew, Arabic and English languages are a way of life in their new environment, a situation that is slightly different from that in Cameroon where English and French are the official languages. Next, the 70-man delegation, among which: Bishop Aloysius Abangalo: the bishop of Mamfe, the governor of the north west region: – his excellency Adolf Lele L’Afrique, 13 priests, and 54 lay faithful made a stop in Capernaum and visited the Church of the Beatitudes. Accompanied by his disciples at the side of the mountain in Capernaum, Matthew 5:1-2 holds that Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount. Capernaum is located next to the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus calmed the storm in Matthew 8:23-34, and where the pilgrims from Bamenda equally visited.
In river Jordan, where Jesus was baptized in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-22, the faithful renewed their baptismal vows, while in Cana, a town located 107.46 km from Jerusalem and famous for the wedding feast where Jesus changed water into wine in John 2:1-11, a new couple was joined in holy matrimony, while three other faithful celebrated their marriage anniversaries. While in Jerusalem, the pilgrims visited the Western Wall or Wailing Wall (the last remnant of the original retaining wall which surrounded the Second Temple, which was built over 2,000 years ago), the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (home to two of the holiest sites in Christianity – the site where Jesus was crucified, known as Calvary, and the tomb where Jesus was buried and then resurrected), and the Dead Sea. The pilgrimage also took the Archdiocese of Bamenda’s delegation to Mount Precipice, Mount of Temptation (about 5km north-west of the West Bank city of Jericho), Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus, and Mount Tabor, during which they prayed and communed as a family. Back to Cameroon last June 13, 2023 from the holy land the 74 pilgrims are expected to share with fellow Christians in their various dioceses, the blessings – fruits of the pilgrimage.
