COVID-19 Mitigation: Catholic Church support needy

To provide comfort for the needy in the immediate post-lockdown period, the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra with support from the International Help of Missionaries (IHM), has distributed food items to the needy.

The food items, comprising 202 of the 5kg bags of rice, 86 cartons of sunflower cooking oil, 122 cartons of Lele Tuna Chucks, and 128 cartons of tomato mix were given to 15 parishes in and around the Battor Deanery in the Greater Accra to be distributed to the needy in their jurisdiction.

Beneficiary churches were the St. Peter (Tema New Town), St. Dominic (Dawhenya), St. John the Baptist (Prampram), St. Mary (Koluedor), St. Peter Claver (Ada Foah), St. Joseph (Vume), St. Maria Goretti (Battor), St. John Vianney (Asutuare), St. Andrew (Kordiabe), St. Dominic Savio (Afienya), St. Agnes (Dodowa) and, Holy Trinity (Adjei Kojo).

Others were the House of St. Francis Rehab Centre, and the St. Joseph (Medie) who had made a special appeal for support to the needy ones in their jurisdiction, and the Caritas Office for urgent needs.

The Churches were to collaborate with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a humanitarian association in the Catholic Church, to identify real needy people who might still be facing hardships due to their inability to work during the restriction of movement period and go to their aid.

The Most Reverend John Bonaventure Kwofie, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, said the entire world was in a difficult period, coupled with problems of finances as a result of efforts to contain COVID-19, therefore, Ghana could not depend solely on external support to survive.

He, expressed profound gratitude to the IHM, for extending support from its headquarters in New York City, to ensure the welfare of humanity in Ghana and other countries during the period of the pandemic.

He also lauded individuals and groups within the church and other organisations for supporting the Church to mobilise funding for its ‘COVID-19 Response to the Needy and Vulnerable' Initiative.

The Archbishop cautioned the priests of the beneficiary churches not to give out the items just to the needy in their churches but to any needy person identified in their jurisdiction.

He also entreated them to reach out to their congregation via approved mediums including social media networks, to ensure that they did not overlook the safety measures as the restriction on movement had been lifted.

“As Pastors, let’s always get it on our lips to speak to our people that there is no remedy yet found for this virus. The risk is still on and we must always emphasise the preventive measures. That is how we can save our country and our world,” he said.

The Reverend Father Cletus M. Kwame Forson, a Trustee of the IHM and Priest of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, Adenta, who presented the items on behalf of IHM, said it was their mandate to help the poor, needy and vulnerable in the society.

He also commended the Archbishop for the cooperation to warrant the success of the initiative, and expressed the hope that the items would go a long way to restore people back to their normal lives.