Catholic Groups in Ghana Respond to Bishops’ Appeal to Support Health Facilities

Meanwhile, a Ghanaian Prelate has called on Ghanaians to look into supporting each other as all countries suffer the burden of fighting COVID-19.

Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie of Accra called on Catholic organizations and individuals to contribute their widow’s mite towards the fight against COVID-19.

“COVID-19 has affected the whole world and every country is fighting to survive it, so it will be difficult for Ghana to turn to other countries for help,” said Archbishop Kwofie.

 “We must look inward to see how to contain it with local resources and collaboration,” he stated, indicating that although the Catholic Church had already contributed significantly to the fight against the pandemic, “it would not rest until the disease had been dealt with.”

He said the Accra Archdiocese alone had already spent almost GHc111,000 ($22,200) on the procurement of PPEs and support to vulnerable groups.

Since the launch of the Bishops’ appeal, Caritas Ghana has supported and collaborated with Caritas Accra Archdiocese, Caritas Cape Coast Archdiocese and Caritas Office of Kumasi Archdiocese, through their Street Children Project (SCP), to provide basic needs to the poor in the areas affected by Government’s imposed restrictions, especially lockdown in Accra, Kasoa and Kumasi respectively.

According to an update made available to ACI Africa by Caritas Ghana on Saturday, April 18, 11,780 poor people in the areas affected by Ghana Government’s imposition of restrictions, especially the lockdown areas have been reached by Caritas Ghana.

The updates from the three Archdioceses under lockdown on their Basic Needs Support to the poor, in collaboration with Caritas Ghana indicate that with general outreach service, Kumasi has reached 300 people, Accra 7,500 and Kasoa in the Cape Coast Archdiocese, 3,000. The people have been provided with shelter and food from the start of the lockdown.

Other societies and groups at the Diocesan level have also started supporting their Bishops to assist the needy, poor and vulnerable Catholics and non-Catholics alike in the midst of COVID-19.

Caritas Cape Coast in collaboration with Caritas Ghana also donated food items, detergents and about 500 pieces of facemasks to assist the vulnerable people in Kasoa, a town under the Cape Coast Archdiocese but part of the lockdown area under Greater Accra.

In a report from the Marshallan Communications Team made available to ACI Africa on the presentation to the GCBC on April 15, Charles Cobb, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Marshall, said the donation is an act of the many charitable support that the Noble Order continues to extend to the Church and humanity.

“We are all committed to stopping the spread of COVID-19 so that our country can quickly return to normalcy and for us to resume our participation in our usual daily and Sunday Masses,” he said.

He added, “As Christians and soldiers of the Church, it is our duty to be part of the solution and defend the Church, which is the people of God.”

The Vice President of the GCBC, Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, who represented the Conference appealed to Ghanaians “to stay positive and adhere strictly to the measures put in place by the government to prevent the spread of the novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).”

He noted that while Ghanaians adhere to the lockdown measures, “it is important for the media to project the good things they do to help the country at this critical time.”

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“In reporting on COVID-19, we should focus more on the people on the frontline who are making sacrifices of their lives to save other people. Let us highlight the positive work of these heroes and heroines,” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said.

He added, “If we have about 1.9 million COVID-19 infections across the world and only a small percentage of them are dying, we should be telling the inspiring stories of those who are surviving it and let people know that if you get the virus, it is not a death sentence.”

Archbishop Kwofie, who received the donation on behalf of the Ghanaian Bishops, thanked KSJI for responding generously to their appeal, adding that that “their great gesture shows their sense of brotherhood and the fact that they believe in co-responsibility towards the common good.

He also called on the members of the group to intensify their prayers for God's intervention in the COVID-19 eradication and advised against the stigmatization of people confirmed to be positive and those undergoing quarantine.