I'm Blaise Olok Njama Muteck I'm 35 years old, and I am priest of the Diocese of Bafang (Cameroon) for the past 4 years. I am the youngest in a family of 6 siblings: 3 boys and 3 girls.
My life has always passed in a joyful precariousness, which has made me experience well how important God's Providence is.
And that precariousness started very early in my life: the day after my birth, my father lost his job, but this unfortunate situation did not prevent me from going to school, since I come from a very poor family. a family rooted in the Catholic faith who has never ceased to encourage me to have a good education.
During my childhood, while attending elementary school, I received the sacraments of Christian initiation which allowed me to practice my faith at Our Lady of Good Counsel parish in Tombel as a choir boy for more than 5 years. It was during this period that I felt the call to become a priest which became clearer with time.
After elementary school, Dad asked me what I wanted to become in life. I answered: to be a priest. I don't know if he liked my answer, because he immediately sent me to bed.
Two weeks later, he asked me the same question and my answer was the same. So, he finally enrolled me at the Petit Séminaire Saint Michel de Melong, where I was able to study for a year despite my father's meager retirement pension.
After one year I was excluded from the seminar due to non-payment of my tuition. Two years later, my father died and everything became even more complicated, since no one could take care of my education.
My life has always passed in a joyful precariousness, which has made me experience well how important God's Providence is.
Blaise Olok Njama Muteck is a 35-year-old priest from the diocese of Bafang (Cameroon). After his formation, he was ordained deacon and assigned as vicar in the parish of St. Paul de Nkondjock (on the outskirts of the city) where, in addition to the lack of drinking water and unstable electricity, he found himself once again, and this time as a priest, in a joyful precariousness.
"It was a difficult experience, obviously, but it was still beautiful and rich. I spent two years in this town and right there I was ordained a priest, on January 30, 2016," he recounts.
But Providence worked for us and made it all easier, since my older sister, the first daughter of the familywas hired at a bank: she was she, then, who sacrificed enough for me to complete my studies first at the Minor Seminary and then at the "Paul VI" Major Seminary in the city of Douala.
After my training, I was ordained a deacon and assigned as a vicar at St. Paul's parish in Nkondjock. (on the outskirts of the city) where, in addition to the lack of drinking water and unstable electricity, I found myself once again, and this time as a priest, in the joyful precariousness of which I had already spoken.
It was a difficult experience, obviously, but it was still beautiful and rich. I spent two years in this town and I went there myself. ordained priest, January 30, 2016. So, the following year, the bishop entrusted me with a new position: pastor of an English-speaking parish in Bafang and principal of St. Paul's College, as well as chaplain of St. Paul's and St. Mary's Schools.
It is important to know that in my country precariousness is also expressed through the presence of two official languages: French and English, in addition to local languages. So we all have to be able to speak in several languages.
I remained in this office for three years before my bishop decided to send me to Rome to study.
Our diocese, in fact, is very young, poor (only eight years old) and rural. Its population is peasant and lives from small-scale agriculture.. But my bishop is very charismatic and visionary, hence his desire to create structures that can give the diocese some autonomy to boost its development.
For the past 3 years, therefore, he has established a Catholic University "St. John Paul II", since his desire is to guide the young people of our diocese from kindergarten through college. giving them priests who can be their mentors to perpetuate Catholicism which is on the verge of extinction due to the secularization that is in full swing.
And this is another challenge: in a poor, secularized country, and with the emergence of the coronavirus all over the world, how was it possible to think of going to Rome, and who would be willing to help us in this task?
"In my diocese priests are on the verge of extinction due to the secularization that is in full swing."
Thanks to the CARF scholarship, Blaise can study Communication at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. Sent by his bishop, the objective is to be well trained to guide other young people and to promote the vocation to the priesthood and to communicate the Gospel well.
"Catholicism in my country that is on the verge of extinction due to the secularization that is in full swing," he says.
Providence's response, in this case too, was not long in coming: CARF, the Centro Academico Romano Foundation, granted me an study grant And so, overcoming the obstacles of quarantine, I was able to arrive in Rome in time to begin my studies in Communications.
My bishop, therefore, wants to give to his priests quality training so that they can return to teaching at the university level. that he himself established a short time ago, making it more competitive and also capable of promoting training that has a soul and quality values, i.e. that influences the world with its originality.
In addition, last year my bishop founded a radio station: radio Lumen gentium, which is a an essential and necessary communication tool for evangelization today: In his opinion, this structure has to be managed in the long term by priests well trained in communication, hence my reason for being in Rome.
As a young priest and taking advantage of this opportunity, I can assure all my benefactors of CARF that I will give my best to be able to form myself and serve the Church and my diocese.
I am well aware of the challenges of my diocese and of the sacrifices made by my benefactors, to whom I already wish to express my deep gratitude, but I have confidence in God and in his Providence, as I have always done in my life thank you to the joyful precariousness that has been so precious to experience the Lord's mercy and help.
Gerardo Ferrara
BA in History and Political Science, specializing in the Middle East.
Responsible for the student body
University of the Holy Cross in Rome
