Paul Mbiybe Verdzekov (January 22, 1931 – January 26, 2010) was a

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

ian

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Bamenda Bamenda, also known as Abakwa and Mankon Town, is a city in northwestern Cameroon and capital of the Northwest Region (Cameroon), Northwest Region. The city has a population of about six hundred thousand people and is located north-west of the C ...

from 1970 until 1982 and as

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

from 1982 until 2006.

Life

Born in Shisong on January 22, 1931, Paul Mbiybe Verdzekov was ordained to the priesthood on December 20, 1961. On August 13, 1970, he was appointed

of the newly created diocese of

. Verdzekov received his

episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

on the following November 8 from Julius Joseph Willem Peeters, bishop of

Buéa Buea is the capital of the Southwest Region of Cameroon. The city is located in Fako Division, on the eastern slopes of Mount Cameroon, and has a population of about 800.000 inhabitants as of 2023. It has two Government Hotels, the Mountai ...

, with the then bishop of

Garoua Garoua (also Garua; Fula: 𞤺𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢, Garwa) is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 1,285,000 inhab ...

, Yves-Joseph-Marie Plumey, and the bishop of Sangmélima,

Pierre-Célestin Nkou Pierre-Célestin Nkou (8 November 1927 − 16 May 1983) was a Cameroonian Catholic bishop. Ordained to the priesthood in 1956, Nkou was named bishop of the Diocese of Sangmélima, Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, i ...

, serving as

co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

. On March 18, 1982 he became archbishop of Bamenda when his diocese was elevated to archdiocese by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. Archbishop Verdzekov retired on January 23, 2006. He died in 2010, aged 79, as Archbishop Emeritus of Bamenda.Catholic Hierarchy website

References

External links

1931 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Africa 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Africa Cameroonian Roman Catholic archbishops People from Bamenda Roman Catholic archbishops of Bamenda Roman Catholic bishops of Bamenda {{africa-RC-archbishop-stub