Bishop Urges Major Superiors to Help Boost Population of Catholics in Ghana

He noted that over the years, the presence and work of the missionaries in Ghana had brought immense transformation to the lives of the Ghanaian people. “It is this transformative light of the gospel that had kept the church in Ghana growing in number of its members,” he said.

The Ghanaian member of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) posed, “Today, due to the decline in the number of our members, are we to say that one,  the transformative light is deeming? What is it that we are not doing right? How effective are we carrying out our mission? How well are we witnessing to the Gospel of Christ in our challenging world?”

“We all have the responsibility from now on as Christ faithful to see to it that the number of our Catholic population does not see a further decline, but rather should increase,”  Bishop Asiedu told religious attending the March 13-14 meeting.

He recalled the 2022 message of GCBC members on the declining Catholic population, saying, “I want to take this opportunity to reiterate some of the resolutions we your Bishops took at our last plenary assembly in Sunyani as means of fostering the growth of the Catholic Church in Ghana.”

He challenged religious congregations in Ghana to undertake primary evangelization through missionary outreach programs.

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The Bishop also underlined the need to embark on an intense and enhanced catechesis where the Priests and new the religious take active part through recruitment, formation and radical supervision of catechists. This, he said, would bring the church closer to the faithful through the establishment of church communities in towns, suburbs and villages.

He also urged major superiors in Ghana to engage and train the youth in the areas of pastoral ministry, as well as to invest efforts in intensifying chaplaincy ministry for Catholic and non-Catholic schools.

The 61-year-old Catholic Bishop said, “These are but few resolutions that I think if we radically apply them in the spirit of witnessing to the gospel, it could forestall further decline in the Catholic population in the country and instead boost the number to the appreciable level that we all could be proud of,” the Catholic Church leader said.

He added, “This task is a collaborative ministry. Let us all embrace it in the spirit of a synodal Church.”

In his March 13 address, Bishop Asiedu also highlighted the importance of community life for Religious Men and Women.

“I know that Community life is very central to almost all orders and congregations. To the extent that Community life is even sometimes considered a fourth vow or another promise,” he said, and added, “To truly live good community life will mean, in my view, to commit oneself, to collaborate effectively and efficiently with other community members in the day-to-day living and in the ministry and apostolate of the members.”

Bishop Asiedu said, “Let us continue to collaborate in promoting the one mission of Christ in which we are all called to share.”

“It is my prayer that this plenary assembly of the conference will bring renewal and transformation to you as members and inflame your hearts, to work zealously for the lost people,” he said.

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.