Episcopal Conference: Embezzlement of Church funds top on agenda

Corruption in Cameroon is not only an evil in public life. It has become clear that Catholic Church money in Cameroon is often subjected to theft by the Church authorities. The issue has become alarming and constitutes the central point of the meeting of the
Episcopal Conference of Cameroon that is closing a three-day conference in Yaounde today

By Roland Akong Wuwih in Yaounde

The embezzlement and misappropriation of public funds in Cameroon is well known. The government appears helpless in coping with the problem of corruption for which it continuously gets low international ranking.

But hardly does the public know that there is corruption in the Catholic Church in Cameroon to a scale that is alarming its prelates.

The widespread abuse of Church money in Cameroon has repeatedly become a priority item during successive meetings of the Episcopal Conference, the union of bishops that governs the Church.

Because the issue is often handled at close door sessions and not carried in final communiqués, it goes unnoticed by the wide public.

But now it appears that the embezzlement of Church money is at a run-away scale, which obliged the papal nuncio, Elisio Antonio Ariotti, and the chairman of the meeting, Bishop Samuel Kleda, to comment openly on it at their opening addresses.

The papal nuncio condemned the quality of financial reports from the different dioceses and parishes. Then Kleda called for serious reflection on the matter to find a definite solution to it all.

The official agenda of the three-day conference that ends today put as top priority, “Better management of Church’s goods.”

It is common knowledge that fund raised by the different parishes across Cameroon are not faithfully accounted for and that some Church authorities are even known to be unscrupulous with Church money.

There is a permanent state of tension between heads of dioceses and heads of parishes over money problems.

Many diocese heads do not believe the financial account rendered by the different parish heads within their dioceses.

Priests in all the dioceses generally complain of poor pay and sometimes harsh living conditions that expose them to the temptation of pocketing Church collection.

Some commentators say that the first major step in correcting the abuse of Church fund is for the Church to raise the pay and other living conditions of its priests.