Catholic Church ends 8th Eight National Sacred Heart Congress

Koforidua, Aug 22, GNA - The Eighth National Sacred Heart of Jesus, held once every five years by the Catholic Church in Ghana, ended at Koforidua on Sunday.

In a speech read on his behalf President John Atta Mills appealed to Christians to pray to erase the moral decadence in the country that had risen in the face of the proliferation of churches.

“Whiles the number of churches is growing every day, the rate of crime is increasing in inverse proportion and one wonders where we are heading to,” he said.

President Mills said the quest for material gains had taken the centre stage in most churches and appealed to Christians to show love to all manner of persons without discrimination, adding that where love existed there was peace.

In a message read on his behalf Pope Benedict XVI called on all Ghanaians, especially Christians, to be messengers of God’s love to the poor, the sick, the rich and to every individual they encountered.

Most Reverend Leon B. Kalenga, the Apostolic Nuncio in Ghana, reminded Christians that anyone who wishes to receive love must give love as a gift.

He said the history of the world had always depicted division, war and loss of lives due to hatred and therefore urged Ghanaians to live by the great law of love of God and to love their neighbours.