Archbishop Cornelius F Esua was born on July 2, 1943, in Mbetta Village in Nguti Sub Division, Southwest Region of Cameroon.  He is the third of seventeen children.  His parents were among the first converts to Christianity, evangelized by the German Pallottine and the Mill Hill Missionaries.  Archbishop Esua attended St Theresa’s Catholic Primary School, Mbetta and later St Joseph’s College, Sasse-Buea.

In 1964, Archbishop Esua started priestly formation at Bigard Memorial Seminary in Enugu, Nigeria where he studied Philosophy. In 1967 he transferred to Pontifical Urbanian University, Rome in Italy, where he finished a degree in Theology.  On December 29, 1971, he was ordained a priest. From 1973 to 1977 he studied Scriptures in the Pontifical Biblical Institute, Rome and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Archbishop Esua holds graduate degrees in Theology and Holy Scriptures. He is fluent in many languages including Lekongho (Mbo), West African Kereole English, French, Italian, German, Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

Archbishop Esua has held different positions including Associate Pastor, St Joseph’s Parish, Mamfe, Southwest Region, Professor of Sacred Scriptures and Biblical Languages at St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Bambui – Bamenda. In September 1982 Archbishop Esua was appointed Bishop and ordained on 8^th December of the same year as founding bishop of Kumbo Diocese in Northwest Region of Cameroon.  In December 2004 he was appointed Co-adjutor Archbishop of Bamenda and became the second Metropolitan Archbishop of Bamenda in January 2006.  In 2009 he helped found the Catholic University of Cameroon (CATUC) and was its first chancellor.  Archbishop Esua retired from the Metropolitan See of Bamenda in February 2020.

Archbishop Esua was a member of many commissions at the national and international levels including being a member of the Synod Council of the Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops, Member of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue and of the Catholic Methodist International Committee, President of Pan African Association of Catholic Exegetes, Vice President and President of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, President of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith, member of the Executive Committee of the Catholic Biblical Federation, of the Committee for the Biblical Center for Africa and Madagascar and many others.

Archbishop Esua has dedicated his life and ministry to caring for the poorest of the poor, people with disabilities, forming young people and the Family Ministry.  In his spare time, he loves to hike, read and travel.