RELIGION: Cameroon Government under Pressure to Shut Down Pentecostal Churches

There are calls for the Cameroon government to shut down some of the country’s Pentecostal churches. This is based on reports of a pastor who stole from his congregation and another who allegedly impregnated seven women.

Cameroon’s Protestant, Baptist and Catholic churches are calling on the government to shut down some of the country’s Pentecostal churches after reports of unethical and criminal behavior by several pastors. It is alleged that one Pentecostal pastor impregnated seven women in his congregation. Another pastor, now wanted by Interpol, is believed to have fled Cameroon after embezzling more than 200 million from his followers.

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Concerns over the Pentecostal church and its methods are not new in Cameroon. Back in August 2013, President Paul Biya ordered over 100 churches to be closed on the grounds of criminal practices organized by Pentecostal pastors. It was alleged that pastors were taking advantage of poor and desperate people. Despite a government crackdown, and the fact that no new churches have been approved by Cameroonian authorities since then, unauthorized churches have continued to spring up.

 According to the Pulitzer Center’s research on Pentecostalism, it is the fastest-growing religion in the world and one quarter of the world’s two billion Christians now belong to this Christian denomination. And nowhere is it growing faster than in sub-Saharan Africa.

“Pentecostal Christians emphasize a direct personal experience of God and believe that the Holy Spirit acts here and now to bring inspiration, health and wealth to believers,” the Pulitzer Center reports. For many in sub-Saharan Africa who may be struggling with poverty, HIV, or unemployment, the church’s promises prove difficult to resist.

 Last month in Rwanda, the government closed over 700 churches, mostly Pentecostal, on the grounds that they were unhygienic, unsafe and disturbing the public peace. Many pastors had taken to preaching through megaphones. But Phil Clark, from SOAS, University of London, believes that there were other reasons behind the closures as well.

“Pentecostalism is growing exponentially there,” Clark told DW. “The church closures are much more politically influenced than the government says. It signals to the churches that they are under observation, just like other social organizations in Rwanda. I take that as a clear warning.”

With three other Christian denominations in Cameroon now issuing a similar warning, it remains to be seen whether the government of President Biya will launch a new crackdown on Pentecostalism in the country.