A Picture That Is Worth More Than A Thousand Words

Photo: On the left is POPE FRANCIS (JORGE MARIO BENGOGLIO), while on  the right is CARDINAL TUMI (CHRISTIAN WIYGHAN SHAAGHAN TUMI)

POPE FRANCIS (JORGE MARIO BENGOGLIO) hailed from Argentina, South America.  He was the first non – European Pope of the Roam Catholic Church.. CARDINAL TUMI, or better still, CHRISTIAN CARDINAL TUMI (CHRISTIAN WIYGHAN SHAAGHAN TUMI) hailed from Cameroon, in Africa. He was the first Cameroonian to become a Cardinal, and was also apparently the first Cardinal in Central Africa.

Both Pope Francis and Cardinal Tumi were reputed for their humility, simplicity, selflessness. The stood for justice for all in the society. Their love for humanity was so strong. They were from all indications, true, or even very true servants of God.

In Cameroon, especially in the Anglophone part of the country, both Pope Francis and Cardinal Tumi, were strong advocates for a peaceful solution to the escalated Anglophone Crisis, that has taken away thousands of human lives, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, caused huge damages to properties, and brought untold sufferings to hundreds of thousands of people.

Cardinal Tumi at one point was even a direct victim of the crisis himself, as he was kidnapped by a separatist group at Baba Village after Ndop, while he was travelling from Bamenda to Kumbo. The man – of – God was however released the next day by the hoodlums, following a wave of outcry and condemnation across the world. Yet what happened to Cardinal Tumi, did not discourage him from continuing with his efforts to pressurize the Cameroonian authorities, as well as the separatists, to follow the path of dialogue to end the crisis.

Unfortunately, these two Apostles of peace passed away without a real or effective solution having been found to end the very bloody armed conflict. That is an armed conflict between Government troops and separatist fighters in the two Anglophone Regions of Cameroon, in which several armed gangs have infiltrated, and of which civilians are the main victims.

Worth noting that Pope Francis is also remembered for being an advocate for the rights of Palestinians, and for peace in Gaza.

Meanwhile talking about the passing away, both Pope Francis and Cardinal Tumi, coincidentally passed away in the month of April. Cardinal Tumi who went first, passed away on April 2, 2021, at the age of 90, while Pope Francis followed on April 21, 2025 at the age of 88. Going by what the Holy Bible tells us, both Jorge Mario Bengoglio (Pope Francis) and Christian Wiyghansai Shaaghan Tumi (Cardinal Tumi), are supposed to have again met each other, this time in Heaven, and should be sitting on the right hand side of Our All Heavily Father, or better still,  the All Mighty Lord.