The Catholic Vocations Directors and Directresses Association of Ghana, (CAVDAG) has held its 43rd Annual General Meeting in the Archdiocese of Kumasi with a call on them to endeavour to bring more young people to God’s vineyard.
The Meeting from February 9 to 13, 2023 at Christian Village Santasi was on the theme, “Vocations Accompaniment Towards Effective Formation to the Priesthood and Religious Life.”
The Most Rev. Gabriel Justice Anokye, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kumasi, told the Vocation Directors and Directresses that there was the need for Vocation Promoters to form Priests and Religious of the 21st Century.
He told them that as they enter into the laser technological world of the candidates, there was still the need to direct, train, and prune them well and prayed God’s blessings on them and for God’s Spirit to be in them to be greater than all challenges.
On his part, Msgr. Louis Kofi Tuffuor, the Vicar General of Kumasi Archdiocese pointed out that the Church relied on Vocation Directors to accept young people to be part of the ministry.
Hence, he noted that the need for the Vocation Promoters to bring more young people into God’s vineyard as they accompany the Promoters with their prayers.
The Meeting was preceded with an opening Mass presided over by Very Rev Fr. Gabriel Kojovi Liashiedzi, Executive Secretary, Pastoral Ministry and Evangelization of the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), Accra.
In his homily based on “Faith and Reconciliation,” Fr. Liashiedzi said, “God created the world within space and time, but he is not limited within space and time because He existed before creation.
He noted that God calls for faith and the little effort that we make towards him, he answers our prayers as the case with biblical figures such as the woman with the issue of blood and the Roman Official’s servant.
According to him, before one could exercise this act of faith, there was the need to reconcile with God, others and self.
Rev. Fr. Mark Opoku Acheampong, the National President of CAVDAG and Vocations Director of the Kumasi Archdiocese, in his welcome address, thanked all for responding positively to the Archdiocesan Vocations programme.
He acknowledged the marvelous deeds for CAVDAG – how the Lord had blessed the Church in Ghana with Vocations. He expressed his appreciation to the newly appointed Bishop John Afoakwah for CAVDAG.
The CAVDAG President said that the theme of the Meeting was very significant hence, the need to team up with parents in order to help young people in the discernment of their vocation.
Present at the occasion were the Most Rev. John Yaw Afoakwah, Catholic Bishop of Obuasi who is also the Episcopal Chairperson for Vocations and Seminaries; Rev. Fr. Michael Boakye Yeboah, Vice Rector of St Gregory the Great Provincial Major Seminary, Parkoso, Kumasi; and Sr. Prof Frances Emily Owusu Ansah, FST, an Educator, Researcher and Clinical Psychologist, who were the Keynote Speakers for the event in the persons of Priests and Religious.
Mr. Clement Asambire, Head Master of Spiritan Senior High Technical School Adankwame, Kumasi, who chaired the opening ceremony, expressed the need for the lay groups in the Church to collaborate with family members as they guide the vocation of their children.
He stated that at the Parish level for instance where there might be no Religious Congregation close to the Parish, when some female Mass Servers express their interest to join religious orders, the lay groups, Catechists, Sunday school teachers are their closest point of contact.
Some of the activities undertaken as part of the meeting included discussion group to deliberate on the topic presentations; reading of Reports from the various Vocation teams’ programmes of the Dioceses in Ghana; Inter Province Indoor Games.
There were also Pastoral Assignments cum Vocation Promotion at some Institutions and Parishes in Kumasi Archdiocese including St. Louis Senior High School Oduom; Opoku Ware School Santasi; Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST); Akenten Appiah-Mensah University of Skills Training and Entrepreneurial Development (AAMUSTED) formerly known as the University of Education Kumasi Campus; Precious Blood Catholic Church, Apire; Resurrection Church, Wamase; St. Joseph’s Tarkwa Maakro; All Saints Catholic Church, Santasi; Immaculate Heart of Mary, Kwadaso.
