The Kaneshie Deanery Laity Council of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has elected new Executives to steer the affairs of the Council for the next three years.
The elections were held during a day’s Seminar the Council organised for it members to educate and equipped them to work effectively to grow the Church.
The new executives are: Beatrice Mensah Normanyo, Chairperson; Solomon Torkutsah, Vice Chairman; Tracilla Dontoh, Secretary; Daniel Sasu, Assistant Secretary; Sally Quarm, Secretary; and George Ansah, Organiser.
The Deanery Laity Executive Committee is responsible for day to day running of the Laity Council at the Deanery level. They would hold office for a three-year term, and would be eligible for re-election only once, and they cannot serve on the Deanery Executive Committee as elected officers for a period exceeding six years.
Attended by representatives from 38 Parishes, the Seminar was on the theme: For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and Mission. The Role of the Laity.
The Seminar held at Our Lady of Assumption (OLA) Catholic Church at New Achimota on January 20, 2024 was aimed at equipping and refreshing the laity to adequately work in the collaboration with the Priests.
It was opened by the Holy Mass celebrated by Rev. Fr. Bonaventure Gnaha, a Comboni Missionary Priest working in the OLA Parish as Assistant Priest and the Kaneshie Deanery Laity Chaplain.
Speaking on the theme of the seminar, Dr. John K.K.D. Mensch, former Accra Archdiocesan Laity Coordinator, said the Synodal Church was all about walking together hence, called on the Laity to walk and work together with the Church and its co-workers.
He stressed the need for the Laity in the Kaneshie Deanery to always pray and also work in collaboration with all Societies and groups in the Church
Fr. Gnaha encouraged the delegates to take up their duties seriously, urging the new executives to work in a collaborative manner for the good of the Church.
AS a Deanery Council, it 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.
The Deanery Laity Council 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.
By Serge Apaloo//Newswatchgh.com
