In a bid to examine the role of the Laity in building a Synodal Church, the Laity Council of the Kaneshie Deanery of the Catholic Archdiocese Accra is organising a Laity Seminar/Meeting at Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Catholic Church at New Achimota on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
Expected to be attended by three delegates from each Parish and Church especially Laity Chairmen, Secretaries and a committed lay person, the Seminar is on the theme: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission. The Role of the Laity.
In a letter inviting Parishes, Deanery Women and Youth Councils to the Seminar, Mrs. Beatrice Normanyo, the Deanery Laity Chairperson and Fr. Bonaventure Gnaha, MCCJ, Deanery Laity Chaplain, entreated “each Church and Council to be present as we look forward for a fruitful, educative and meaningful discussions on the role of the Laity in building a Synodal Church.”
The Seminar is expected to be addressed by the former Accra Archdiocesan Laity Coordinator, Dr. K.K.D. Mensah while new executives for the Kaneshie Deanery Laity Council would be elected.
According to article 13 of the National Catholic Laity Council Constitution on Deanery Structure and Organisation “there shall be established in the respective deaneries of every Catholic diocese a Deanery Laity Council.”
The Constitution further states “The Deanery Laity Council shall consist of the following: The Chaplain of the Deanery Laity Council, One representative each of the Youth Councils of each of the Parishes of the Deanery, One representative each of the Women Councils of each of the Parishes of the Deanery; One representative each of the Laity Councils in the Parishes of the Deanery.
The Deanery Laity Council is mandated to be the inter-parochial organization responsible for monitoring and facilitating laity activities in the Parishes of the Deanery. It collates reports from the Parishes for onward transmission to the Diocesan Secretariat of the Laity Council and organizes seminars, study sessions, workshops and other such formation programs for parish laity councils and the lay organizations within the deanery.
It is also obliged to hold at least one meeting in the year, as a deanery plenary assembly, which shall be in preparation for the diocesan plenary assembly, to receive, discuss and adopts reports from the parish laity councils and lay organizations, and the Deanery Executive Committee and present an annual report on behalf of the Parishes of the Deanery at the annual Diocesan Laity Plenary Assembly.
The National Catholic Laity Council Constitution outlines the composition of the Deanery Laity Executive Committee as follows:
- The Deanery Laity Chaplain
- The Diocesan Vice-Chairperson for the Deanery, who shall function as the chairperson for the Deanery
- One representative each of the Parish Laity Councils in the Deanery, who shall be appointed to serve on the executive committee of the Deanery Laity Council
The Deanery Laity Executive Committee is responsible for day to day running of the Laity Council at the deanery level and elected Deanery Laity executives are to hold office for a three-year term, and would be eligible for re-election only once, and they are not serve on the Deanery Executive Committee as elected officers for a period exceeding six years.
By Damian Avevor
