Archbishop Victor Tonye Bakot spiced the celebration with a Pontifical Mass on Sunday.

Thousands of Christians from various parishes of the Yaounde Archdiocese thronged the Simbock neighbourhood of Yaounde on Sunday July 1 to join over 400 faithful in celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Saints Peter and Paul Anglophone Parish.

The Archbishop of the Yaounde, His Grace Victor Tonye Bakot led the Pontifical Mass to celebrate the solemnity of the patron saints and the anniversary of the parish. In his homily, the Archbishop praised the parishioners for progress made in ten years in constructing a church in Simbock. “Now that you are established in this important area of our diocese, you have become a true parish in every sense of the word,” he told the congregation.

While announcing his contribution of FCFA one million to the ongoing church construction project, he encouraged the Parish Priest, Rev. Father Giles Ngwa Forteh and his fellow parishioners to redouble their efforts in roofing the church and be the best in Yaounde Archdiocese. He urged them to emulate the lives of Apostles Peter and Paul who lived faith, proclaimed and made it as fruitful as possible until their deaths.

Sunday’s Holy Mass was spiced with cultural dances and was preceded on Saturday June 30 by a mass for the family wherein the Archbishop celebrated two weddings, several renewals of marriage vows and baptisms.

The Saints Peter and Paul Anglophone Parish in Simbock was created in 2002 and united the two separate communities of Etoug-Ebe and Nsimeyong under one roof. The tenth anniversary magazine “Footprints” published on the occasion reveals that in ten years, more than 2,000 Christians joined the church through baptism, 200 couples united in sacred matrimony while 1,500 Christians received confirmation.