The Anglican Bishop of Cape Coast, Rt Rev. Daniel S. Allotey, has said that under no condition can people in authority prevent priests from performing their priestly duties.
He said from the ancient times till now, priests were chosen by God to perform specific functions and therefore anybody who attempted to obstruct them from performing their duties were likely to face the curse of God.
Rt. Rev. Allotey said if, for any reason a priest is involved in a case, the issue had to be dealt with and not to be used as a base to prevent the priest from performing his functions.
He was delivering the sermon at the 30th anniversary thanks giving service of the ordination of Bishop Francis Benjamin Quashie of the Koforidua Diocese of the Anglican Church into the priesthood at the St. Peter’s Cathedral at Koforidua on Sunday,July 1, 2007.
Bishop Quashie was ordained into priesthood in 1977 and consecrated as a Bishop of Koforidua in 2003.
Rt. Rev. Allotey said priest are made priests for life and have divine authority to prophesise on the nation and adviced the leadership of the country on the welfare of the people.
He explained that, the essence of prophecy was to enable people to understand issues in the wisdom of God.
Bishop Allotey advised the congregation to desist from giving the priest wrong information which gets them into conflict with other members of the congregation and urged priests not to conduct themselves in any manner that would put their integrity into doubt.
As part of the celebration, Bishop Quashie consecrated a chapel, St. SS Perpetua and Felicita at the new Bishop Lodge last Saturday.
He explained that, the chapel, apart from being used for normal worship could also be used by couples who want to bless their marriages in the quiet or before a small congregation.
The thanks giving service was attended by the Archbishop of the Province of West Africa, the Most Rev. Dr Justice Ofei Akrofi and the Anglican Bishop of Tamale, Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Arongo and priests from other Anglican dioceses in the country.
