Catholic Church installs Bishop of Koforidua Diocese

Koforidua, July 2, GNA - Most Rev. Joseph Afrifah-Agyekum, was on Saturday ordained and installed as the Catholic Bishop of Koforidua Diocese at a solemn ceremony by his predecessor, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev. Gabriel Charles Palmer-Buckle. Those who assisted in the ordination included Metropolitan Archbishops Peter Akwasi Sarpong of Kumasi and Gregory Kpiebaya of Tamale in the presence of His Eminence, Peter Cardinal Kodwo Appiah-Turkson, and the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Rev. George Kocherry.

Most Rev. Afrifah-Agyekum, 52, who was the Vicar General of the diocese, became the Diocesan Administrator on the transfer of Most. Rev. Palmer-Buckle to Accra in May last year until his nomination by Pope Benedict XVI on April 12, this year.

The pontifical ceremony was attended by the p 18 other bishops or their representatives among the several hundreds of Catholics and people from all walks from the country.

Delivering the Sermon, the Catholic Bishop of Koforidua, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, who noted that the a diocese without a bishop greatly affected the spiritual and social growth of the faithful and called on the priests and the church members to give the necessary spiritual and material support to the new bishop.

He stated that humanity lived in turbulent age and blamed the proliferation of new self-style churches and the media supported by scientific and technological advancement as manipulating the ideas and body of the human person above the creator's design. Bishop Gyamfi cited permissive ideas as legalizing abortion, abuse of drugs, euthanasia, same sex marriage among others and bemoaned that scientific and technological development were changing divine virtues of the world, making it very hostile to the Church while the youth tended to be drawn to the new churches "who think they are preaching the right message of God."

He advised the new Bishop not to be discouraged by the "weight of the responsibility" put on him by his ordination, which he said was the "continued calls by God into His service.

In another development, the Administrator of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), Sir Peter Fosuaba Mensah-Banahene, presented one- billion-cedi cheques to the Catholic University College, Fiapre, at the ceremony to help the College set up a scholarship endowment fund for the needy.

He explained that the amount was realized from the sale of his recently published book: "The social teachings of the Catholic Church" as wells donations from some friends. Receiving the amount, Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle asked more Catholics to emulate the GETFund to help improve the status and service of the College.