Six distinguished Catholics—four men and two women—are set to receive a prestigious Papal Award of the Order of Knights and Dames of St. Gregory the Great in recognition of their dedicated service to the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Kumasi.
Among the recipients to be conferred on Sunday, June 1, 2025, at the St. Peter’s Cathedral Basilica in Kumasi is Mr. John Kofi Tandoh, the National Catholic Laity Council Chairman and a parishioner of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary Catholic Chaplaincy at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Others to be conferred with Papal Knights and Dames are Joseph Solomon Kwasi Buachie, Peter Atta Bimpeh, Nana Sefah Darko II, Mavis Appiah-Kubi, and Juliana Lucia Twumasi.
The awards were bestowed on them by Pope Francis on January 7, 2025, and will be conferred on the awardees by the Most Rev. Julien Kaboré, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, on behalf of the Holy Father.
Mr. Tandoh, who was recently elected as the Chairman of the National Catholic Laity Council in April 2025, has made significant contributions to various aspects of Church life, including Marriage and Family Life, Youth and Social Development, and Church Lay Leadership.
He co-founded the Archdiocesan Marriage and Family Life Education Programme in 1995 and has served as a resource person for numerous initiatives within the church.
Additionally, he is an author and co-author for the National Catholic Laity Council’s Laity Week Study Programme and serves as the Secretary-General for the 4th Synod of the Catholic Archdiocese of Kumasi.
As an adjunct lecturer in Biblical Apostolate at St. Gregory the Great Provincial Major Seminary, Sir Tandoh continues to influence future leaders within the church.
The Order of Saint Gregory the Great was founded by Gregory XVI on September 1, 1831. It is named for Pope Saint Gregory I, otherwise known as Gregory the Great. It is awarded in four classes and two divisions. The divisions are Military and Civil. The grades are, from highest to lowest, Knight Grand Cross (1st class), Knight Commander with Star (2nd class), Knight Commander (3rd class), and Knight (4th class). Since 1994 women have been admitted to the Order as Dames in the same grades and divisions as men.
The insignia and uniforms were detailed in a Papal Bull of May 30, 1834. The 2nd class grade was originally a lower grade of Knight Grand Cross. Pope Saint Pius X modified the Order on February 7, 1905 to rename the 2nd class as Knight Commander with Star in order to parallel the grades of the Order of Saint Pius IX and the Order of Saint Sylvester. It is also worth noting that it was also this same Pope who gave Papal knights a place of honor in Papal processions and ecclesiastical ceremonies.
As with all Orders of the Holy See, there is no set method of nomination for this Order. The Holy See is free to nominate and award in any manner in which she sees fit. However, awards of the Order of Saint Gregory the Great are typically made on the recommendation of Diocesan Bishops or Archbishops or Nuncios for special merit or service. If it is processed through the local Bishop, then the usual procedure is for that Bishop to nominate the candidate through the appropriate Apostolic Nuncio, who then forwards the recommendation to the Cardinal Secretary of State in Rome.
Awards are also sometimes made on specific recommendation of members of the Roman Curia. Specific procedures can vary. Upon approval, a diploma is issued in Latin (with the candidate’s forenames also translated into Latin where possible), and it is signed in almost every case on behalf of the Roman Pontiff by the Secretary of State of the Vatican.
By: Veronica Sena Amenya//Newswatchgh.com
