The Covid-19 pandemic has been almost indiscriminate in its effect on the world economy including the West African country of Ghana, says the Most Rev. Philip Naameh, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference in a keynote address on the Theme: “Fratelli Tutti and Covid-19: Pastoral Challenges and Opportunities in Ghana.”
Addressing audience at the opening of the 2021 Plenary Assembly of the Conference at the St. Andrew Cathedral in Wa Monday, November 8, 2021, the Prelate said “While this is true, relatively less resourced nations like Ghana have been the worst hit, with the effects being multi-sectoral.
“We seek here to examine what impact the pandemic has on our country in general and on the mission of the Church in particular,” he said, emphasising that the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has had a global impact on human lives and livelihoods and Ghana as a nation had not been spared.
“Economically, tumbling commodity prices (gold, crude oil and cocoa) due to a fall in productivity have meant less revenue, putting more pressure on the local currency while driving up inflation,” he stated, adding “Lower productivity has equally led to job losses making an already precarious unemployment situation even worse and threatening to widen the gap between rich and poor.”
He indicated, “all these are happening within a global context of what Pope Francis describes in Fratelli Tutti (FT) #10-28 as the loss of the meaning of the social community and history; selfishness and indifference toward the common good; the prevalence of a market logic based on profit and the culture of waste.”
The Archbishop, who shepherds the Tamale Catholic Archdiocese, was emphatic that those impacted by the economic downturn are members of the church and this has consequently led to a weakening of church finances, saying, “Indeed, for a period of about three months, between March and June 2020, churches could not take the usual offerings, which is the main sources of income.”
“Salaries of church workers still had to be paid and other financial obligations met. This has left many parishes financially insolvent,” he added.
In the health sector, GCBC President stated that infrastructure had been stretched to breaking point, with resources, which were previously used to manage other conditions now being dedicated to the Covid-19 fight.
In spite of the measures put in place to fight the pandemic, Archbishop Naameh noted that the country(Ghana) continues to record Covid-19 deaths, with new strains of the virus including the Delta variant currently on the upward trajectory.
“The Church being a key stakeholder in health delivery in Ghana has thus been affected. Chaplains of hospitals and health workers have been directly affected, leading, in some cases, to loss of life,” he indicated.
According to the Tamale Archbishop in the early days of the outbreak, health workers were inadequately resourced and often worked without the necessary protective apparel increasing fear and apprehension.
A combination of these factors, he stated, represents an ever-growing threat in the ability of the church’s health services to respond to the health needs of their respective communities.
