Support deprived Catholic communities
Mr. Martin Eson-Benjamin, Chief Executive of Millennium Development Authority has urged Catholics to contribute to the growth and development of deprived Catholic communities. He bemoaned the unhealthy competitions among Parishes on who builds the most extravagant Church, saying that it was wasteful and unproductive. He said these at a fundraising event held at the Parish Hall of the Christ the King Church at Cantonments, Accra recently to solicit funds to roof the Cathedral for the Donkorkrom Apostolic Vicariate.
The event on the theme: Developing the Local Catholic Church in Contemporary Times was sponsored by Mr. John Klu, a Parishioner of the Madina Queen of Peace Church on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
Mr. Eson-Benjamin, who was the Guest Speaker, noted that putting up expensive church buildings was not the best use of funds for a Church eager to spread and evangelize, calling on endowed Churches to support the growth of poor communities and deprived areas in the spirit of sisterly solidarity. He added that well to-do Parishes must be given targets and challenged to champion the cause of evangelisation by looking at the needs of some of the poor communities and offering them assistance to own a decent place of worship and other facilities.
This, he said, “would bring our Church nearer potential Catholics and enlarge the flock” since the Church was in the business of winning souls for Christ.
Mr. Eson- Benjamin stressed the need for the Church to undertake developmental projects directed and guided by the spirit of God that allowed for growth such as schools to give holistic education to children and health centres to provide quality health care for the sick and suffering.
Others he said, were orphanages to care for orphaned children, vocational training institutes for the physically challenged, as well as homes for those who needed special care. He noted that for the Church to be successful in its vocation to provide care and bring the word to the people, it was necessary to start small Catholic communities and bring the Church to the doorstep of those in deprived communities instead of focusing on the cities and already developed towns.
He therefore called for support for Donkorkrom which was equally a deprived area that needed to evangelise its people, saying that the Cathedral would be a strong pillar of evangelisation.
Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, Bishop of Donkorkrom, who gave an overview of the project noted that the Cathedral building with a basement, main Chapel and a gallery, had reached the roofing stage and needed GH₵ 300,000 to roof it. He said the building was funded mainly through the little contributions of the faithful of the local church as well as indigenes domiciled in Accra and other parts of the country.
He said though Donkorkrom was a deprived community, the faithful were committed to the growth and development of the Church in the Vicariate and commended them for contributing their widow’s mite to build the Cathedral for the Vicariate.
The Bishop noted that apart from the Cathedral which was currently the major ongoing project in the Vicariate, it was also putting up schools and health facilities to address the educational and health needs of the people. He appealed to well-meaning Catholics as well as societies and groups in the Church to support the Cathedral project, expressing the hope that with the Completion of the Cathedral building, the Vicariate would be elevated to the status of a Diocese.
The fund-raising yielded GH₵ 120, 000 in cash, cheques and pledges.
Mr. Klu thanked the donors for their generous contributions and called for more support to complete the project.
At the ceremony were Mr. and Mrs. Kwofie of the Domod Group of Companies, Mr. Raphael Nwosu of TESCON Ghana Limited as well as members of the Christian Mothers’ Association and other individuals who contributed generously to the project.
In attendance was the Winneba Youth Choir.
*Mr. Eson-Benjamin
By Angela Ofosu Boateng
The event on the theme: Developing the Local Catholic Church in Contemporary Times was sponsored by Mr. John Klu, a Parishioner of the Madina Queen of Peace Church on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
Mr. Eson-Benjamin, who was the Guest Speaker, noted that putting up expensive church buildings was not the best use of funds for a Church eager to spread and evangelize, calling on endowed Churches to support the growth of poor communities and deprived areas in the spirit of sisterly solidarity. He added that well to-do Parishes must be given targets and challenged to champion the cause of evangelisation by looking at the needs of some of the poor communities and offering them assistance to own a decent place of worship and other facilities.
This, he said, “would bring our Church nearer potential Catholics and enlarge the flock” since the Church was in the business of winning souls for Christ.
Mr. Eson- Benjamin stressed the need for the Church to undertake developmental projects directed and guided by the spirit of God that allowed for growth such as schools to give holistic education to children and health centres to provide quality health care for the sick and suffering.
Others he said, were orphanages to care for orphaned children, vocational training institutes for the physically challenged, as well as homes for those who needed special care. He noted that for the Church to be successful in its vocation to provide care and bring the word to the people, it was necessary to start small Catholic communities and bring the Church to the doorstep of those in deprived communities instead of focusing on the cities and already developed towns.
He therefore called for support for Donkorkrom which was equally a deprived area that needed to evangelise its people, saying that the Cathedral would be a strong pillar of evangelisation.
Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, Bishop of Donkorkrom, who gave an overview of the project noted that the Cathedral building with a basement, main Chapel and a gallery, had reached the roofing stage and needed GH₵ 300,000 to roof it. He said the building was funded mainly through the little contributions of the faithful of the local church as well as indigenes domiciled in Accra and other parts of the country.
He said though Donkorkrom was a deprived community, the faithful were committed to the growth and development of the Church in the Vicariate and commended them for contributing their widow’s mite to build the Cathedral for the Vicariate.
The Bishop noted that apart from the Cathedral which was currently the major ongoing project in the Vicariate, it was also putting up schools and health facilities to address the educational and health needs of the people. He appealed to well-meaning Catholics as well as societies and groups in the Church to support the Cathedral project, expressing the hope that with the Completion of the Cathedral building, the Vicariate would be elevated to the status of a Diocese.
The fund-raising yielded GH₵ 120, 000 in cash, cheques and pledges.
Mr. Klu thanked the donors for their generous contributions and called for more support to complete the project.
At the ceremony were Mr. and Mrs. Kwofie of the Domod Group of Companies, Mr. Raphael Nwosu of TESCON Ghana Limited as well as members of the Christian Mothers’ Association and other individuals who contributed generously to the project.
In attendance was the Winneba Youth Choir.
*Mr. Eson-Benjamin
By Angela Ofosu Boateng
