By Gordon wellu
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His Eminence Ivan Cardinal Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has praised Ghana for her rapid infrastructural and human resource development in the last 25 years.
He said travelling around, he had noticed the improvement on the country’s roads and urged the government and Ghanaians to work even harder to achieve more.
Cardinal Dias said this when he paid a courtesy call on President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu.
He was in the country as the Pope’s Special Envoy at the closing ceremony of 100 years of Evangelisation of Northern Ghana.
Accompanying the Cardinal to the Castle were His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, Archbishop of Cape Coast; Most Rev. George Kocherry, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana; Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, Archbishop of Accra; Rev. Msgr. Seth Osei-Agyemang, Secretary General of the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), his Assistant, Rev. Fr. Nicholas Afriyie and Dr. Africanus Diedong, Executive Secretary of the Department of Communications of the NCS.
Cardinal Dias said he was particularly touched by the exponential growth of the Catholic Church in Ghana in both population and infrastructure.
The Prelate congratulated Ghana on behalf of the Pope, for her Golden Jubilee celebration.
Cardinal Dias was the Pro-Nuncio to Ghana, Benin and Togo 25 years ago (from 1982-1987).
He expressed his best wishes and blessing for the country and her people in the coming years.
Responding, President Kufuor acknowledged that the Church had done more for the people, especially the North than the government.
He said the Church was on the forefront in the area of education, saying that quality and academic excellence had always been the hallmarks of Catholic institutions.
President Kufuor called for a more fruitful partnership between the Church and the State for the good of the people.
As part of his eleven-day programme, Cardinal Dias visited Manhyia Palace in Kumasi, where he interacted with Representatives of the Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II.
He was met on arrival by the Akyempemhene, Nana Oheneba Adusei-Poku, who deputised for the Asantehene who was said to be out of the country.
Other chiefs present were Captain Nana Asiama Poku-Afrifa, Tuasehene, Nana Appiah Sarfo Kantanka, Ashanti Akroponghene and Nana Darko Mpra II, Otumfuo’s Senior Linguist and Nitibansohene.
Accompanying the Cardinal were Most Rev. George Kocherry, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Rev. Peter Sarpong, Archbishop of Kumasi; Most Rev. Thomas Mensah, Bishop of Obuasi; Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong; Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani; Most Rev. Gabriel Anokye, Auxiliary Bishop of Kumasi and other priests and Religious.
Cardinal Dias said he was happy to be at the Palace after 25 years, and recounted vividly his encounter with the late Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware II.
He said he was touched by the great respect the Manhyia Traditional Area had for the Catholic Church in Kumasi which was expressed through releasing vast lands for Church projects.
He emphasised that both Church and Traditional Authority were there for the good of the people which should never be compromised.
“The good of the people should take priority over our personal interest,” he stressed.
Cardinal Dias asked that his best wishes and greetings be conveyed to Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and presented a medal each to him and the Queen Mother.
Nana Adusei-Poku said the Traditional rulers in the Asante Kingdom were grateful to the Catholic Church for her numerous development projects as well as her many schools and health institutions.
He announced that at the appropriate time Manhyia would honour the Church for her immense contributions to the progress of humanity in the Kingdom.
Nana Adusei-Poku presented three Books on Asante History and a CD Documentary on the Asante Kingdom to Cardinal Dias.
Similar gifts were given to each of the Bishops that accompanied the Cardinal.
In a homily at the St. Peter’s Minor Basilica in Kumasi, where he presided over a Mass to climax his visit to the Kumasi Province, Cardinal Dias urged Christians to be wary of the prosperity of gospel that was creeping into Christiandom in recent times.
Cardinal Dias told Christians to be in the world but not of the world, explaining that the pleasures of the world should not be over and above the Christian calling and focus, which is the ultimate re-union with God.
He said there was so much darkness around the world but each “one of us must be a candle to out-shine the darkness around us.”
Concelebrating were Most Rev. Peter K. Sarpong, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kumasi, Most Rev. George Kocherry, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Rev. Thomas Mensah, Bishop of Obuasi, Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong, Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani; Most Rev. Peter Atuahene, Bishop of Goaso and Most Rev. Gabriel Justice Anokye, Auxiliary Bishop of Kumasi.
About 60 priests, including Rev. Msgr. Douglas Peters, Rector of the St. Peter’s Basilica, also concelebrated.
Cardinal Dias also cautioned Christians against popularity and power.
He said so many people today were power drunk, a situation that has driven many from the true path of God.
He said much as popularity and power were “good,” the over-indulgence in them were against the plan of God, stressing that the “Hosana of people” was deceptive.
The Prelate said any leadership that was not for the absolute service to the people was a void one, adding that the teaching of Christ that anyone who wants to lead must be a servant, should be drummed home for both Church and secular leaders.
He told Christians to renew themselves, exhorting the laity to work more closely with the Clergy to spread the gospel.
“Let us renew our commitment to be what we should be and let us be proud that God has made us Catholics and nothing else,” he added.
Cardinal Dias asked both Laity and Clergy to uphold what he termed as the three “Ds” of the Church, namely, Doctrine, Discipline and Devotion.
He praised the laity in the Archdiocese of Kumasi for their deep involvement in the life of the Church in that part of the world.
He was grateful to all for the warm reception that was accorded him.
The Cardinal presented special Rosaries and medals blessed by the Holy Father to selected individuals.
Earlier in the day, he had blessed and commissioned a magnificent Archdiocesan Catholic Secretariat for the Kumasi Archdiocese at Anyinam and blessed the site of a new Major Seminary for the Kumasi Province at Parkoso.
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