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.
