Leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis, has appointed Very Rev. Father John Baptist
ATTAKRUH as the new Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi in Ghana.
A statement by the Chargé d’Affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature in Ghana, Msgr. Maher Chammas, dated June 24 said “His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed Rev. Father John Baptist ATTAKRUH as the new Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sekondi- Takoradi.
Pope Francis in July 2020, appointed Very Rev. Fr. John Baptiste Attakruh as Apostolic Administrator for the Catholic Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi “with all the rights and faculties of a Local Ordinary”
A statement issued by Monsignor Paval Talapka, then Charge D’Affairs of the Apostolic Nunciature of Ghana stated that the appointment took “into consideration the difficulty for Metropolitan Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie, until now the Apostolic Administrator of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese, to continue to administer the Diocese due to his health and distance from Accra.”
Very Rev. Fr. John Baptist ATTAKRUH was born on 13th October 1957 at Juabo in the
Amenfi Central District of the Western Region in Ghana. Among five children, he is the first child of Mr. Joseph Benjamín Attakruh and Mrs. Theresa Ama Attakruh, who are both deceased.
He had his elementary education at Aboso from 1963 to 1972 and entered
St. Teresa’s Minor Seminary at Elmina in the Central Region of Ghana for his secondary
education from 1972-1979. He joined the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) of the New Work
Province and had his novitiate formation in Benin City, Nigeria from 1980-1982.
He proceeded to Institut de Philosphie Saint Pierre Canisius in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo for his studies in Philosophy from 1982 to 1985.
After his philosophical studies he came back to Ghana and undertook his studies in Theology at St. Peter’s Regional Seminary in Cape Coast as a seminarian of the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi. He obtained a Diploma in Theology from the University of Ghana, Legon in 1987.
Very Rev. Fr. Attakruh was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi on
30th July 1989. His first appointment was to Immaculate Conception Parish as Assistant Priest from 1989 to 1991.
He was then appointed as Vice-Rector of St. Mary’s Minor Seminary in Apowa and at the same time, he was a tutor and Chaplain at St. Mary’s Boys’ Secondary School and Director of Vocations of the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi. From 1992 to 1995 he studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of St. Anselm in Rome where he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Liturgy.
Upon his return to Ghana, he was appointed as Director of St. Kizito Pastoral
and Catechetical Center at Apowa and Director of Sacred Liturgy of the Diocese of Sekondi- Takoradi from 1996 to 1998.
From 1998 to 2004, he was appointed formator and lecturer at St. Peter’s Regional Seminary, Cape Coast, where he taught Sacred Liturgy and Sacramental Theology From 2004 to 2014, Fr. Attakruh undertook a sabbatical and study leave.
During this period he studied at St. John’s University, New York, USA, where he obtained a Master of Science in Educational Administration and Supervision of Instruction. He also served in the Diocese of Rockville Center, New York, as Priest-Chaplain of Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and Medical Center, Patchogue, and as week-end Associate at St. John the Baptist Church in Wading, New York.
In 2015, he was appointed Co-ordinator of the First Synod of the Diocese of
Sekondi-Takoradi by Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, the then Bishop of the Diocese.
Among the assignments he serves in the Diocese from 2015 to the present is being the Director of St. Kizito Pastoral and Catechetical Centre; Diocesan Biblical Apostolate; Catechesis; and Sacred Liturgy On 31st July 2020, Very Rev. Fr. Attakruh was nominated as the Apostolic Administrator of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese with all the rights and faculties of a Local Ordinary, a position he held until his appointment as the new Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese on 24th June 2021, on the Solemnity of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.
