Tche Irene Morikang
17 March 2009
The Embassy was opened last year with H.E. Antoine Zanga as Ambassador. Relations between Cameroon and The Vatican can be dated as far back as when Catholic missionaries arrived in Cameroon. Since then, Catholicism in Cameroon has grown from strength to strength and activities of the church in the education and health sectors very visible.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries effectively began on 31 October 1966 with the opening of the office of the Apostolic Nuncio in Yaounde. Vatican's fist representative in Cameroon, Pro-Nuncio Mgr Luigi Poggi supervised the building of the present embassy of the Vatican in Cameroon on the summit of Mont Febe, Yaounde. The current Apostolic Nuncio, H.E. Mgr Eliseo Antonio Ariotti, who arrived in Cameroon in October 2003, is the 9th representative of The Vatican in Cameroon.
It was, however, in 2002 that Cameroon's first ambassador to the Vatican with residence in Rome was appointed. Prior to the appointment of Philippe Mataga, Cameroon's Ambassador to Germany with residence in Bonn, used to oversee Vatican-Cameroon relations. Unfortunately, H.E. Philippe Mataga never had the opportunity to present his letters of Credence to the Holy Father. He died in Madrid a few months after the appointment. The post remained vacant for some five years.
Then, in January 2008, Antoine Zanga, was appointed to the function. He handed over his letter of Credence to Pope Benedict XVI on 16 June 2008. Prior to his appointment, Ambassador Zanga held several posts of responsibility in the government amongst them Minister of Urban Affairs, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Town Planning and Housing, Minister of Posts and telecommunications and assistant director of the Civil Cabinet of the Presidency.
As the country's first Ambassador to reside in Rome, H. E. Antoine Zanga had the daunting task of setting up the mission. "Getting an office; an address for the Embassy was not easy. But, finally, we were able to have this place not far from The Vatican.
Our main problem now is that the staff of the embassy is reduced to three persons; myself and two collaborators", the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Cameroon to the Holy See explained. His fervent wish is to see the other staff of the embassy deployed to enable the structure function fully.
The challenge over the past months has been to ensure that Pope Benedict XVI's maiden visit to Cameroon is a success. This, he has been doing by making sure information flows between the two countries, facilitating the stay of Cameroonians in Rome, as well as visiting structures which can be of help to Cameroon, such as Rome Reports, a private TV news agency that has produced a documentary on the Pope expected to be aired on CRTV.
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