The origins date back to February 13, 1901 when Catholic missionaries (the Pallotines) set foot on the soil of Mfoundi for the first time. Among them were Father Heinrich Vieter, Brother Jean Jager and several others from Germany.
Arriving in Yaoundé, they begin the work of evangelization with the construction of many buildings. Welcomed by Chief Essomba Mebe who gave him land on Mvolyé hill, Father Vieter decided to set up the first Catholic mission in Yaoundé there.
On January 22, 1905, Monsignor Vieter became the first bishop of Cameroon and the mission of Mvolyé became the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Cameroon. Monsignor Vieter died on November 7, 1914. He was buried in the cemetery of Mvolyé.
The years 1923 to 1927 saw the construction of the cathedral of Mvolyé dedicated to the Holy Spirit. Threatening to fall into ruins, it was destroyed at the beginning of 1990 on the instructions of Monsignor Jean Zoa, first Cameroonian bishop of Yaoundé, to build a Marian sanctuary there. The first stone was laid on August 15, 1990. It became the Basilica of Marie-Reine-des-Apôtres on December 10, 2006 in the presence of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, legate of Pope Benedict XVI.
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