A Ghanaian Divine Word Missionary Priest has asked Migrants in Ghana to see the West African country as their home and ensure they behaved well as they would do in their country of origin.
“Some of the factors that lead to the struggles we have with one another (host nation versus migrant) is based on cultural challenges, change of environment, language barrier and economic hardship,” Rev. Fr. Patrick Kodom, SVD, stated.
He said these at the 2022 Migrants Day celebration by the Divine Word Missionaries (SVD) and the Mission Congregation of the Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) in Ghana, at St. Margaret Mary Parish, Dansoman, Accra.
Both SVD and SSpS are Catholic Religious and International Societies serving God through humanity.
The September 24, 2022 programme was graced by people from Ghana, Togo, Gambia, Gabon, Nigeria, Philippines and Burkina Faso.
Speaking on the theme: “Building a Home away from Home,” Fr. Kodom, who is the Priest-in-Charge of St. John Paul II Catholic Community at Washington DC, Ashaiman in the Accra Archdiocese, indicated that for most people the word Migrants had a negative connotation.
He noted that the host country often sees migrants as threat to their country, forgetting that there was no one on this earth who was not a migrant.
As a seasoned Missionary, specialised in Migration Theology, Fr. Kodom made an analogy of God, making his dwelling in the midst of people in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ as migrant.
He added that even within Ghana, when one moves from one place to another makes one a migrant too.
Fr. Kodom, however, lamented the treatment meted out to brothers and sisters from different countries, which, he noted did not speak well of host countries. “We often take one bad story of an individual or a small group of people and generalise,” he added.
As part of the Social Teachings of the Catholic Church, it is the call and work of every Catholic and for that matter every Christian to welcome strangers. There is a saying in Twi (Akan Language) that it is the stranger(s) in a place who make a community grow.
Migrant Apostolate is a distinctive call for the SVDs and SSpS, who through their Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) offices create platforms for migrants to come together, share their stories, interact and above all, made to feel at home.
In Pope Francis’ message on the World Day of Migrants, which is often celebrated 25th September, he invites all of us, who are also migrants to identify with our brothers and sisters from other countries and make them welcome from any background, being it race, color or religion.
Fr. Nicholas Aazine, Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Coordinator Ghana-Liberia Province, thanked Fr. Kodom, Fr. John Acheampong, SVD Accra District JPIC Coordinator, the chairperson of the occasion; Mr. David Bondorin, St. Margaret Mary Parish JPIC Chairperson.
Fr. John Duah Prempeh, SVD, the parish priest of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church Dansoman, who is also the Accra SVD District Superior gave a welcome address on behalf of the Provincial Superior of the SVD Ghana-Liberia, Very Rev. Fr. Cyprian Kuupol, SVD and his own behalf as the SVD District Superior of Accra.
In attendance were Rev. Sr. Vilma Espinosa, SSpS – the JPIC Coordinator of the SSpS, who also deputised for her Provincial Leader, Rev. Sr. Mercy Benson, SSpS, Fr. Courage Nordor, SVD, Fr. Vincent Aarah-Bapuah, SVD and SVD Lay Partners.
Anyone who likes to be part of the SVD-SSpS Migrant Group
Contact: 0243077398
Fr. Nicholas Aazine, SVD (JPIC Coordinator Ghana-Liberia Province)
Sr. Vilma Espinosa, SSpS (JPIC Coordinator Ghana Province)
Fr. Dionisio Nellas, SVD (Coordinator for Migrants)
