Value of Catholic Professionals

The Metropolitan Archbishops of Accra, Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, has urged Priests to recognise the value, talents and resources of the laity especially Catholic Professionals and work with them to build the Church.

He challenged Catholic Professionals to avail their expertise to the Church and join hands to build the Church in the Archdiocese of Accra and in Ghana as a whole.

The Archbishop made the call during an interaction session with members of the Catholic Professional Guild (CPG), at the Holy Spirit Cathedral Parish Hall, Adabraka, Accra.

Archbishop Kwofie, who declared his preparedness to work closely with the CPG to build the Church, commended his predecessor, Archbishop Chares Palmer-Buckle for starting the process of identifying the professionals within the Church.

He said this move was in fulfilment of the African Synod which enjoins the Bishops of Africa to set up structures for the formation of the laity, who would effectively contribute to the leadership and development of the Church and country.

Instead of blaming and lashing out at the Church for some failures in the Church, the Archbishop urged the professionals not to sit on the fence but to think about what they can do to improve upon the situation and support the process of building.

“Beyond identifying and criticizing the problems facing the Church, what can you do as professionals to help find solutions to build the Church?” the Archbishop asked.

He tasked members of the CPG to be missionaries wherever they found themselves and to let their lives reflect the Gospel values, and urged Catholic Teachers to stand up to support the mission of the Church in education.

Some CPG members also suggested the need for the Church to go into partnership with Catholics to establish schools to project the Catholic faith and her identity.

Concerns on the dwindling Catholic student population in Catholic schools was raised, with some members of the CPG calling on Catholics parents and their wards to choose Catholic schools. Besides, some argued that efforts and strategies should be made to ensure that Catholic values and faith are maintained in Catholic Second Circle Schools.  

The Archbishop also mentioned the efforts the Church was making in partnership with other Churches to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government which was yet to be signed after several years.

On prudent management of finances within the Church, some CPG members suggested the development of a standard accounting procedure to ensure transparency in the finances of the Church.

The Archbishop noting the importance of financial management, said “accountability and transparency are virtues we owe to ourselves and our families”, and stressed the need for Priests, leaders of societies and everyone to be accountable.

Mr. Edward Ayem, Convener of CPG thanked the Archbishop for making time to meet the group and urged members to actively support efforts to build the Church.