During Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Cameroon, attention turned not only to the visible life of the Church—its parishes, schools, and communities—but also to a quieter reality: children who, in the eyes of the state, do not exist.
In the Diocese of Bafia, it is estimated that some 20,000 children do not have a birth certificate. Without official registration, they remain invisible to civil society—unable to fully access education, health care, and legal protection.
“The problem of children without birth certificates is a reality in many of our dioceses,” said Father Cletus Ashu Amah, National Director of The Pontifical Mission Societies in Cameroon. “Behind this phenomenon are war, extreme poverty, and displacement—especially in the English-speaking regions of the country.”
In some cases, young women displaced by violence fall into situations of exploitation and abandonment. Their children, born in precarious circumstances, are left without documentation—and without recognition.
Responding to this growing crisis, the Missionary Childhood Association in Cameroon has launched an initiative aimed at restoring not only legal identity, but human dignity.
“The recognition of a person through a birth certificate is the first act of social and legal recognition of a child’s dignity,” Father Cletus explained.
The project, developed in collaboration with the diocesan Justice and Peace Commission, includes mobile registration clinics, partnerships with local authorities, and temporary registration centers in parishes, schools, and health facilities. It also provides legal and administrative assistance to families, helping reduce the barriers that often prevent children from being registered.
At the same time, the initiative serves as a type of missionary formation.
Inspired by the founding motto of the Missionary Childhood Association—“children helping children”—young people in the diocese participate through prayer, small offerings, and acts of charity directed toward other vulnerable children in their own communities.
At the national level, the program is expected to expand, beginning in two dioceses. Children will be identified, registered, and accompanied through programs that provide both education and formation.
For Father Cletus, the work is both practical and deeply spiritual.
To give a child a name, a record, a place in society—is also to affirm that child’s dignity as a son or daughter of God.
As Pope Leo XIV told the children in Yaoundé’s Ngul Zamba Orphanage—whose name means “Strength of God,” too many kids in Cameroon have endured difficult trials: “Some of you have known the pain of loss through the death of parents or loved ones. Others have experienced fear, rejection, abandonment, deprivation, and uncertainty. Yet, you are called to a future that is greater than your wounds. You are bearers of a promise."
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