During his maiden pastoral visit to Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Parish at New Achimota, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp appealed to Catholics in the Archdiocese and beyond to support the “Legacy of Hope” Projects being embarked upon by the Archdiocese which include the building of a Catholic Children’s Hospital at Atomic-Kwabenya.
“I wish to invite you all, to join me on this journey, and by being a part of this vision, together we can leave a wonderful legacy for our children,” he appealed to parishioners of OLA Parish and her three Outstations on Sunday, February 27, 2022.
Some of the projects which fall under the “Legacy of Hope” projects launched by Archbishop Kwofie on Saturday, January 15, 2022 include building of a Catholic Children’s Hospital, completion of the Youth Center, Priests’ Retirement Home, Archdiocesan Secretariat, Completion of the Catechetical Center, Catholic Cemetery, and Cathedral Restoration.
The Archbishop said: “We may not be able to solve all the world’s problems, but each one of us has the capacity to offer hope. We should never underestimate the impact that this will make in the lives of the many vulnerable children who desperately need someone to attend to them.”
On Tuesday, January 18, 2022, Archbishop Kwofie cut the sod for the commencement of work on the Children Hospital at Atomic-Kwabenya. At the ceremony, the Archbishop said “Children are our future and every child deserves a future. This is a responsibility that is acknowledged by almost every adult that I know.
According to the Accra Prelate at the sod-cutting ceremony, “There is no better way to impact a child’s future positively, than to be attentive to their needs, to ensure their protection and to support their development, at every given opportunity.”
He added: “In the past few months, as many of you know, I have had my personal battle with illness. God has been faithful, and I have been overwhelmed by the level of care and support from the medical teams that have attended to me, my brothers and sisters in Christ, family, friends, and many loved ones. In my journey, I encountered many children, who are also battling various ailments. I have come to learn that our children need even more specialist care for there are many ailments that affect mainly children.”
It is interesting to note that in our national Capital, which is the most populous, there is only one major children’s hospital, namely, the Princess Marie Louise Hospital in Accra Central Arena. Some government hospitals in Accra, though, have paediatric units. These include the Korle-bu Teaching, 37 Military, Greater Accra Regional and University of Ghana Medical Hospitals. There are also a few private facilities that are dedicated to paediatric care but rely on our major hospitals for cases that require further management.
This, Archbishop Kwofie stated that the paediatric healthcare facilities in Accra were not adequate in the face of the millions of children in the Capital. “Indeed, our medical teams are overstretched; and we should support them whenever we can,” he noted.
He, therefore, stated that a hospital for children was one way of helping them rise above their pain and suffering, hence, “my decision to rally the support of all of you to build a Catholic Children’s Hospital in Accra.”
The first phase of the Children’s Hospital project is estimated at a cost of Two Million US Dollars (US $ 2,000,000.00).
Preaching the Sermon at a Mass during Archbishop Kwofie’s maiden visit to OLA parish on February 27, 2022, the Pastor of the Community, Rev. Fr. Francisco Machado of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), described the “legacy of Hope” Project as one that would bring a true vision for the future.
“The vision that led our Archbishop, Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie to come out with this project “Legacy of Hope” was to help us to participate more fully in the life of our Archdiocese as it intends to lead us to a meaningful future,” he said.
The Archbishop, Fr. Machado averred, had presented “to us his vision full of hope and life. This project came about because we are well aware of the needs and sufferings of our children.”
Fr. Machado noted that the project uncovered clearly to the people of God of Accra the most basic truth- children who need and they deserve a meaningful future.
“As our Archbishop has mentioned so many times, the Catholic Church believes deeply in our youth and needs urgently their strength, their audacity, joviality and their capacity to renew and transform our world so much broken by greed and selfishness,” Fr. Machado indicated.
According to the Comboni Priest, “the Catholic Church believes in the youth and their creative power to look into the future with hope and to commit themselves to bring life even to the darkest areas and dimensions of our suffering and challenging world.”
Touching on the Pastoral Plan of the OLA Parish, Fr. Machado, a Portuguese Comboni Missionary, informed the Archbishop that as a community of faith “We have decided to follow on the footsteps of Jesus as a family of faith, hope and love.”
“In communion with our local Church and with the universal Church that is inviting us to pray and reflect on the importance of the family, our Parish has worked out our Pastoral Plan,” he added.
According to him, for the next six years, the OLA Parish had chosen to journey as the family of the children of God with the chosen theme “As for me and my Family we shall serve the Lord our God”.
He opined: “We want to journey together and to learn more and more how to live and grow as a family, as children of the Catholic Church,” adding, “We have chosen to nurture and develop a Catholic Community made alive and active through the commitment of each member of our community in the different ministries or services.”
At the Mass, Archbishop Kwofie administered the Sacrament of Confirmation to 99 candidates from OLA Parish, St. Daniel Comboni Church, Tantra Hills; Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, Chantan and St. Cecilia, Ofankor North, all Outstations of OLA.
By Damian Avevor
