I nearly became a Catholic Priest - Freddy Blay

First National Vice Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Freddie Blay has disclosed that he was persuaded by the former Archbishop of Cape Coast, the late John Kojo Amissah to become a Catholic priest when he was schooling at the Adisadel College some years ago.

According to him, a friend, who was a Catholic priest, introduced him to the late Archbishop at Amissahano and he managed to persuade him to become a Catholic priest but was not able to live up to that expectation and instead became a barrister.

Mr Blay made this known at the 50th anniversary of the Society of the Infant Jesus (SIJ) at the St Francis Catholic Church in Cape Coast over the weekend.

The event was attended by hundreds of people from all walks of life, including bishops, catholic priest, brothers, queen mothers, as well as church members.

Describing the catholic faith as the most stable faith in the world, Mr Blay added that the society has been supporting the nation in undertaking developmental projects such as schools, hospitals as well as improving the lives of the needy people in society.

He hinted that although the country is in serious economic crises, God would rescue Ghana.

The First National Vice Chairman stressed the need for members of SIJ to keep their faith and work hard to accomplish the aims and vision of the society.

“50 years in the life of an institution is not an easy thing so be strong and help the church as well as the society in general,” he added.

Delivering the sermon, the Archbishop of Cape Coast, Matthias Nketsia said love is the essence of religious life and Christianity is a love enterprise.

He stressed the need for all Christians to love one another.

Christians must give instead of receiving because Jesus Christ gave his life to save mankind, Archbishop Nketsia emphasized.

He urged people to offer their lives to Christ to gain salvation.

“Jubilee is a consecrated and secret time for the proclamation of freedom, freedom is the ability to do what is right for once country, God and the neighbours and as they celebrate the Jubilee, they should experience freedom in all their lives,” he said, adding that “Christians must set the people they have imprisoned in their hearts free so that they can be free to enjoy liberty, if their lives have been a hindrance to others, they should position themselves well.”

An appeal for funds yielded good dividend, which would be used to complete a school project in the Central Region.