“The life of our people has no semblance of normality,” Bishop Michal Miabesue Bibi of Buea, Cameroon, told the Fides news service.

Bishop Bibi reported that “many families are forced to flee for fear of losing their lives,” as violent conflict spreads in Cameroon. But he says that the Catholic clergy have “remained close to the people; we have never closed any church.”

The bishop, whose diocese is in the English-speaking section of the divided country, says that his people were initially sympathetic to separatist groups, but over time concluded that “it is better for us that they send the army because the Amba Boys (the main separatist gorup) are more dangerous.” He accused the Amba Boys of “heinous acts.”