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Planned Diocesan Synod in Ghana’s Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese to Focus on “youth ministry”

A poster announcing the Diocesan Synod on young people in Ghana's Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese. Credit: Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese

The planned Diocesan Synod in Ghana’s Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese is to examine issues relating to youth ministry in general and the role of Catholic youth in the Church in particular, the Local Ordinary has said.

In a statement issued Monday, April 3, Bishop John Baptist Attakruh says the decision to convene the Diocesan Synod on the youth ministry came “after a prayerful reflection on my interaction with various segments of Christ's faithful in the Diocese, especially with the youth throughout my pastoral visits to the parishes, and in consultation with the Presbyteral Council, the College of Consultors and the Diocesan Pastoral Council.”

Bishop Attakruh goes on to explain the reasons behind the six-day Diocesan Synod that he says is to begin on November 14, including the need for “effective youth formation”, and a way of addressing the challenge of “the dwindling number of the Catholic population”, which members of the Ghana Conference of Catholic Bishops (GCBC) have described as “alarming”

“A Diocesan Synod on the Youth has become necessary as I consider effective youth formation as an essential component of pastoral ministry in the Diocese to better respond to the reality of the dwindling number of the Catholic population,” the Ghanaian Bishop says.

In their message ahead of Christmas 2022, GCBC members said that over the past decades, the population of Catholics in Ghana has been on a downward trajectory, “from 15.1% in the 2000 census, to 13.1% in the 2010 census and further declined to 10% in the 2021 census.”

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“This indeed is a disturbing trend for our Church. The statistics reveal that if the trend of decline continues at the present rate of 3.1% per decade, we may end up losing grounds totally by the year 2060,” Catholic Bishops in Ghana said in their statement on the eve of Advent 2022.

In his April 3 statement, Bishop Attakruh says that he considers “effective youth ministry as essential in our endeavor to build a synodal Church in the Diocese.”

The Catholic Church leader who first served as Apostolic Administrator of Ghana’s Sekondi-Takoradi from August 2020 and was later appointed Local Ordinary of the same Episcopal See 24 June 2021 says he has “established a Synod Preparatory Commission to be responsible for the planning and celebration of the Synod.”

Ahead of the Diocesan Synod that is to “be officially launched at Mass on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023, at Mary, 'Star of the Sea' Cathedral, Takoradi,” the 65-year-old Bishop “earnestly” urges “all, the Clergy, Religious and Lay Faithful, especially the youth, to be actively involved in the preparation of the synod and to pray for its success.”

He directs “all parishes throughout the Diocese to launch the synod at Mass on April 16, 2023, the Second Sunday of Easter.”

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“I, hereby, commend the Diocesan Synod on the Youth to the patronage of Mary, 'Star of the Sea,” Bishop Attakruh says in his April 3 statement about the convention that has been organized under the theme, “Building a Synodal Church: The Role of the Catholic Youth”.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.