Upon the invitation of the Most Rev. Peter Kwasi Sarpong, Ghanaian Metropolitan Archbishop Emeritus of Ghana’s Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi, some Religious Women Communicators in Ghana who are participating in an an ongoing Media training have paid a courtesy call on him at his residence at Santase.
The twenty Religious Sisters representing ten Women Congregations across the country were ecstatic to have been invited by the 91-year old retired Archbishop, who had served as a Prelate of the Church in Ghana since 1970.
The May 11, 2024 visit was a memorable one as the Emeritus Archbishop, who marked his 91st birthday on February 6, reminisce his many years of good relationship and love for the work Religious Women do for Mother Church.
The Sisters were in Kumasi for a 9-day Conrad Hilton Foundation funded Media Training Project to equip them with skills and knowledge in the use of all modern means of social communications to evangelise and to tell their own stories.
The Sisters and their facilitators from Global Newswatch Media and Communications, who are Media Partners of the Conference of Major Superiors -Ghana (CMSR-GH), exchanged pleasantries with the Archbishop Emeritus and sung songs to honour him.
Sr. Cecilia Afari, SMMC, the Media Project Coordinator of the Sister Communicators, who led the Sisters thanked Archbishop Sarpong for kind invitation, a gesture the Sisters indeed appreciated.
Sr. Afari, who is the Vicar General of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church (SMMC), briefed Archbishop Sarpong on the mission of the Sister Communicators in the Kumasi Archdiocese and the objective of the media training.
She assured the retired Prelate of Sister Communicators readiness to be the voice of their various Religious Congregations through media publicity.
Looking very healthy, fit, strong and elated, Emeritus Archbishop Sarpong said “Sisters, I am so happy for the visit.”
Present at the residence was Rev. Fr. Rexford Akesse Mensah Kum, Secretary to the Archbishop.
Emeritus Archbishop Sarpong was born on February 6, 1933 in Offinso, Ashanti. He was ordained Catholic Priest on December 11, 1959. Approximately 10 years after his ordination to the priesthood, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Kumasi (as it then was); and ordained Bishop on March 8, 1970, aged just 37.
As the Bishop of the Diocese of Kumasi, he was, at the time, in charge of the Catholic Church in both the Ashanti Region and the former Brong-Ahafo Region. On January 17, 2002, he was appointed the first Archbishop of the then newly elevated Archdiocese of Kumasi by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He retired from the Archbishopric on March 26, 2008 at the age of 75. Before retiring, he held various appointments at various times at the Vatican, including being a long-term member of the Peace Council.
As put by AJI- CPG Platform, Archbishop Sarpong is, evidently, one of the brainiest academics in Africa and the world, and the most cited social anthropologists in Ghana, Africa and the world at large. Shortly after his ordination in 1959, he made his way to Italy where he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from St Thomas Aquinas University, Rome, in 1962, and a Doctorate degree in Sacred Theology in 1963. He also obtained Diploma in Anthropology and Master of Letters (M.Litt.) in Social Anthropology from Oxford University, England in 1965.
He has written over 1,000 books and articles on Anthropology, Theology and African Culture, among others. His articles are published in different national, continental and international journals.
Among his publications are “Archbishop Sarpong Explains Key Christian Topics” (SNAM Ltd, 2016), and “Culture and the Kingdom” (Good Shepherd Publications, 2016).
He writes prolifically for The Catholic Standard, Ghana’s national Catholic weekly.
The Archbishop Emeritus has also received various awards, including Freedom of the Tuskegee Award, USA, 1973, Companion of the Star of the Volta by the Ghana Government in 2006, and Prize for Distinguished Writers by the Ghana Book Development Council.
He has lectured in both second cycle and tertiary institutions in Ghana and other parts of the world.
Sr. Agnes Mercy Nyatsoe, SMMC//Newswatchgh.com
