The 2024 First Biannual Meeting of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Ghana (CMSRG) is currently underway at the Arnold Janssen Spirituality Centre, Bortianor Hills, Tuba in Accra.
The March 12 to 16 Meeting being attended by about 70 Superiors of all Religious Congregations in the West African country of Ghana is focusing on the theme: Growing the Catholic Church in Ghana through Collaborative Ministry: The Role of Consecrated Men and Women.
The Conference convenes twice in the year – March and October. Presently, the Conference is composed of about seventy (70) members of both Men and Women Religious.
The Meeting was opened on Wednesday, March 13, 2024 with an address by the Most Rev. John Alphonse Asiedu, SVD, Apostolic Vicar of Donkorkrom Vicariate and Episcopal Chair for Priests and Religious in Ghana.
Present at the opening ceremony were the Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra and Very Rev. Fr. Paul Saa-Dade Ennin, SMA, President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana and the Provincial Superior of the Society of African Missions (SMA).
In an address, Bishop Asiedu said a Plenary Assembly offered the opportunity for a Conference to pause, reflect and examine its role entrusted to it as well as the impact it is making in the society.
“I believe it is also the same for you as you gather to deliberate on issues concerning the life and ministry of your members,” he said, stating that the role of this Conference (CMSR-G), and all its members, Consecrated men and women living and working in Ghana was very crucial.
In a goodwill message, Archbishop Kwofie stressed on the need to intensify home visitation by the Religious as part of their evangelisation mission.
In a welcome message, Fr. Ennin said the gathering of the Superiors was in the context of the call of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) for a more collaborative ministry for a more impactful Church.
He said the call was made at the last Plenary Assembly of the GCBC in November 2023 which was is in the context of reflection “on our mission within the local church, specifically, the issues of contracts and agreements should be viewed; as Consecrated persons, we carry in our various institutes charisms and gifts of the Holy Spirit for the good of the church; it is a call to prophetic witness.”
According to him, “our meeting comes in this Year of Prayer declared by Pope Francis in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025 under the theme “Pilgrims of Hope”.
In this regard, a team from the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Ghana participated in a four-day Conference organised by the Dicastery for Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in Rome.
The team, he said, would brief the Conference on their experience and help it plan its own journey as a Conference towards the Jubilee celebration 2025, as prophetic witness, pilgrims of Hope.
Fr. Ennin also noted that “we are meeting in an election year in which the stakes are very high,” asking, “We cannot ignore the current political and economic situation of the country. What role can and should we play as pilgrims of Hope on the path of peace.”
During the five-day Biannual meeting, the Superiors deliberated on the importance of health insurance policies for Religious Congregations, safeguarding Women Religious from abuses of all kinds, care for the environment, illegal mining (galamsey) among others.
These discussions were geared towards helping the members of the Conference to add value to the services you are rendering to the Church in particular and to humanity in general.
The Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana made up of both men and women leaders of the Catholic Religious Congregations in Ghana was established on August 23, 2013 when Rome recognized the group as a body in the Church in Ghana. Before then, there were two separate Conferences of women and men.
It is to promote deeper collaboration between the leaders of the Congregations in Ghana so that no Superior would feel isolated in her/his ministry. Opportunities are therefore given through communication, workshops, and meetings to support the ministry of leadership in the face of current challenges.
The vision of the Conference is to be a vibrant, formidable and prophetic Catholic Missionary body in Ghana collaboratively responding to the signs of the times through sustainable programs towards the positive transformation of society.
It has as its mission to effectively strengthen Catholic Religious Institutes in Ghana and to foster their missionary engagements through collaboration with relevant stakeholders towards the integral development of the human person (integral: advocacy, spiritual, education, health and well-being of persons).
The membership of the Conference while expressing the diversity of charisms and cultures promotes the common identity of those who follow Christ in the Apostolic Religious Life to proclaim the Kingdom.
The CMSRG has a relationship with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Ghana.
By Veronica Sena Amenya//Newswatchgh.com/Photo Credit: Newswatchgh.com
