Barely a month from now, in exactly three weeks to be precise, the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana will mark a significant anniversary. On April 18, 1950, with a decree promulgated by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide the Gold Coast Ecclesiastical Province was erected. That occasion marked the graduation of the Catholic mission from the Apostolic Vicariate of the Gold Coast into a fully-fledged local Church, enjoying all the rights and privileges commensurate with that elevation.
Following that promotion, the Apostolic Vicariates of Keta (est. 1923), Kumasi (est. 1932), Tamale, previously Navrongo (est. 1934), and Accra (est. 1947), governed by Bishops Holland, Paulissen, Bertrand, and Noser, respectively, metamorphosed into Dioceses, with the mother Vicariate of Cape Coast (est. 1901), shepherded by William Thomas Porter, becoming the Metropolitan Archdiocese. Thus, that decree heralded the coming of age of Roman Catholicism in the then-Gold Coast and the founding of Ghana’s present-day Catholic hierarchy.
For most religious congregations, such as the writer’s Society of Jesus (Jesuits), such an anniversary – a Diamond Jubilee – would be amply celebrated. Commemorative logos would be designed, jubilee prayers would be composed, and anniversary axioms would be articulated. On a grander scale, the Diamond Jubilee planning committee would likely organise anniversary lectures around the theme, fostering a more profound and renewed appreciation of the congregation’s intuitional memory. Such events as talks and workshops would complement that vintage Catholic celebration, the Holy Mass, which would launch and climax the entire Diamond Jubilee Year. Frequently accused of making every occasion an opportunity for a celebration, religious congregations may be guilty of that charge. Yet, given the dividends they yield for their institutes, such anniversary celebrations are apposite.
From my observation, none but the Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast seems to be celebrating this Diamond Jubilee. While it is to be expected that Cape Coast spearhead this celebration, it is equally apropos that this important milestone is celebrated nationally, given its broader significance as stated above. Yet, I daresay that many Ghanaian diocesan and religious priests know precious little about this noteworthy anniversary. In our clericalised church in Ghana, it is to be expected that if the clergy are oblivious or nonchalant about this anniversary, the laity would be more so. Seemingly, we are all but squandering this diamond opportunity.
This is highly regrettable. Recent statistics of the global Catholic population issued in the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae 2023 indicate an increase in numbers by 1.15% between 2022 and 2023, rising from approximately 1.39 billion to 1.406 billion. While this growth in the Catholic population is reflected in various parts of Africa, Ghana appears to be bucking this trend. Thus, whereas Africa registered the highest growth, with the Catholic population on the continent increasing by 3.31%, from 272 million in 2022 to 281 million in 2023, we are all too familiar with the downward drift in Ghana’s Catholic numbers and must ask ourselves how and why we are swimming against the current. This Diamond Jubilee anniversary could allow Ghanaian Catholics to recall God’s fidelity in the past while gazing with Christian hope to the future.
Recently, on a WhatsApp platform populated by a cross-section of Catholics that I belong to, I decried the fact that the Catholic Church in Ghana is overly reactionary. Ours is a church that seems to struggle to drive its agenda yet is quick to react to issues that surface in the public sphere, evidenced by our prominent engagement in the LGBTQ+ palaver and the Freemasonry brouhaha.
Lost is the verve that characterised the Ghana Bishops Conference of yesteryear. Our departed president, Jerry John Rawlings, lamented this fact. The perception of Ghana’s Catholic hierarchy as fractured along partisan political and other lines is palpable and demands their attention as an issue of grave concern. For the keen observer, such fissures may partly account for why Cape Coast seemingly is going it alone in this matter of an anniversary that deserves nationwide recognition and participation.
By Rev. Fr. Kpanie Addy, S.J.
