Bernard Fonlon

For you to have thought of dedicating a whole evening to Bernard’s memory is really wonderful and I thank you for it. I know many of the speakers we have this evening will have much to say about this great son of our land; so I will be brief in my own remarks.

My memory of Dr. Fonlon goes back to when I was still a child. I was in the vernacular school in my village of Kikaikelaki when he came to teach there after completing Standard Six. In fact, it is he who, a year later, closed the vernacular school and moved all of us to Shisong, where we started our primary education in English.

He was, of course, a role model for us. We were all fascinated by this very simple, young and friendly man with an easy smile, who liked to spend a good part of his time in the presence of older people. He would listen attentively to them and ask them questions from time to time. His spirit of inquiry, the inquisitiveness of an intellectual mind, was already at work in him.

Our mothers always prepared food for him, which we took to him and he would always invite us to join him, so we ate it together. As a child, being asked by a teacher to share his meal was always something that left an indelible mark on your memory.

He didn’t wear any shoes but I remember that when he bought his first pair of shoes, his mother was very furious with him. Her fear was simply that he might start to become too proud and would not listen to his parents and the elders of society anymore. Of course, she didn’t have to worry at all for Bernard remained the obedient young man he had always been.

Some years later, he left for Saint Charles College in Onitsha, Nigeria, to prepare for the priesthood. For quite some years thereafter, I didn’t see him, nor heard from or about him. But then, one day, some friends and I were playing football in a field near the warders’ barracks at the Bamenda Station when we saw him coming. I immediately recognized him and hid behind a shrub until he came nearer and then I jumped out and held him. Once he overcame that moment of surprise, and realizing who I was, he screamed out “Shaghan, what are you doing here?” And that was a moment of joy for both of us. Our encounters in later years would always be marked by great joy.

Bernard was a very approachable man. He loved to play the flute and we always loved listening to him play it. My love of music certainly received a big boost from his own musical talents.

When we learnt that he had been asked to leave the Seminary, we were all profoundly shaken. We later learnt that he was told a few days to his diaconal ordination that he would not be ordained a deacon. And to tell you the kind of man he was, it was he who played the organ in Church a few days later when his classmates were being ordained deacons! I wonder how many of us would have even attended that ordination Mass, not to mention playing the organ!

But that was the type of man Bernard was. A truly humble man, a man of discipline, a man of principles, a man of prayers, a man who loved the truth, a man who had great respect for the views of others, even those he did not share. A man of deep conviction. A man young people should truly admire and imitate and I am happy that you’ve organized an evening in his honour so the younger generation may emulate those values for which he stood so firmly. He was an intellectual of the first order. A man who loved work well done and who took his time to do work well. Our younger ones can learn much from his example.

As you all know, I’m not the only one who fell, as it were, under Bernard’s spell. The Archbishop of Bamenda, His Grace Paul Verdzekov, was also like his godson. Many other bishops and priests of our land benefited enormously from his wise pieces of advice and encouragement. It is thanks to him, and other lay faithful of like mind and commitment to the Church, that we have the Saint Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Bambui, that has given our country so many priests since its creation.

I mentioned that he was a man of prayer, and indeed he was! Instead of revolting against the Church in bitterness for not being ordained a priest, as many in his place might have been tempted to do, he instead accepted what had happened to him and continued to play a prominent role in church as a lay person.

He was indeed a saintly man. When I was in Rome recently, a Nigerian Cardinal, who had known Bernard when he was studying in Nigeria, asked me why we have not yet introduced his cause for beatification. That is how strongly people even outside our country consider him worthy of being declared a Saint.

Many gathered here this evening will have much more to say about this man of fortitude, of temperance and of prudence. Once more, thank you for making me a part of this memorial occasion. God bless you.

+ Christian Cardinal Tumi,
Archbishop of Douala.