Be Leaders, Guides of God’s People: Catholic Bishop in Ghana to New Priests at Ordination

By Jude Atemanke

Ho, 02 November, 2021 / 9:00 pm (ACI Africa).

During the ordination of six Deacons to the Priesthood in Ghana’s Catholic Diocese of Ho, the ordaining Bishop invited those to become Priests to strive for leadership that seeks to guides the people of God entrusted to their care.

Addressing the Deacons he was about to ordain at the St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church October 30, Bishop Emmanuel Kofi Fianu urged them to “become leaders and guides of the people of God and their communities.”

Priests, the Bishop said, are “salt and light” and therefore must guide the people of God under the pastoral care.

“The call to serve God required a serious reflection since it entailed a lot of responsibilities,” the member of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD) said.

He noted that the actions and behaviors of the new Priests “must make the religious desire to live and not leave the Church.”

The Local Ordinary of Ho Diocese who doubles as the Episcopal Chairman for Health Commission of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) called on the new members of the Clergy “not to be Priests who would bring disappointment to God’s people and their task of leading the people was a service in humility.”

The Ghanaian Bishop urged the new Priests to “apply energies in teaching in the name of Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church, say things the Church expected its people to know and share the word of God as true nourishment of the faithful.”

Bishop Fianu further urged the new Priests “to know that the Church had its own traditions and doctrines which they must keep, read and understand, ask for explanation, teach the right thing and be prepared before their homilies.”

“Priests must also endeavor to live exemplary lives to the people they lead,” he said, adding that “the world today was tired of teachers and rather looking for models to follow.”

Bishop Fianu invited the Priests to “learn to identify their weaknesses and pray to God for help to enable them to become good examples.”

The Ghanaian Bishop called on the faithful to pray for their Priests particularly for “the newly ordained” saying, “You have the responsibility of bringing up and contributing to the identification and ordination of Holy Priests.”

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.