From Vincent Mensah
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His Eminence Ivan Cardinal Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, has called for the formation of Priests imbued with the moral doctrine, discipline and devotion, to the Sacraments.
Cardinal Dias said this in a homily at a Holy Mass he presided over to climax the 50th anniversary of St. Peter’s Regional Seminary at Pedu on April 28.
The theme of the anniversary was Fifty Years of Priestly Formation: Past, Present and Future.
The Mass was concelebrated by almost all the Bishops of Ghana and more than 800 Alumni (Priests) of St. Peter’s from all the Dioceses of Ghana.
He was happy the Seminary had produced over 1,000 Priests since its establishment, noting that among its products are many of the Bishops of Ghana including a Cardinal.
He thanked God for the blessings and graces God had bestowed on the Seminary for the past 50 years.
Cardinal Dias asked the Formators of the Seminary to produce Priests who would articulate the teachings of the Church and not their own opinions.
Present at the Mass was Reverend Sr. Nora Sweeny, HCJ, a long time Librarian of the Seminary, Archbishop Michael Blume, now Apostolic Nuncio to Togo and Benin, and a former Philosophy Lecturer and Rector from 1978 to 1983.
Before the Mass, Cardinal Dias blessed and unveiled a new statue of St. Peter erected at St. Peter’s Square and unveiled a plague in memory of Rev. Fr. Cornelius Hulsen, SMA, the first Rector of the Seminary from March 1957 to August 1967.
On behalf of President John Agyekum Kufuor, Nana Ato Arthur, the Central Regional Minister, cut a tape to open the Seminary’s ultra modern Library described as the Jubilee Project built with resources mostly from Ghanaians and with assistance from Alumni groups.
Nana Arthur announced a donation of ¢500 million for the purchase of a bus for the Seminary.
He said the Church had examples of many Priests who had led sanctified lives and had become saints.
He cited St. Francis Xavier and St. John Vianney as people who had preached the Word of God and evangelised many people by relying on the Doctrines and Sacraments of the Church. Besides, they were disciplined to their calling as Priests.
Goodwill messages were received from Osabarima Nana Kwesi Atta II, Omanhene of Cape Coast, Nana Arthur on behalf of the government, Mrs. Angelina Baiden Amissah, Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Sports and Very Rev. Fr. John Louis, President of the National Union of Ghana Diocesan Priests Associations.
Fr. Louis, who is the Holy Spirit Cathedral Administrator in Accra, called “for periodic reviews of Seminary formation programmes making use of wider consultations, better scientific tools and methods in the light of the unchanging values of the Gospel of Christ.”
He said such reviews should be based on five objectives including a “spirituality by which the Priest would be ever more inebriated with the love, sacrifice and person of Jesus Christ.
Rev. Msgr. Matthew Edusei, Rector of the Seminary, appealed for the construction of more halls of residence, pleading that the second phase of the ongoing project of John Paul II Hall involving the construction of additional 24 rooms be completed.
He acknowledged government’s contribution through GET-Fund, saying it had contributed ¢500 million towards the construction of the new Library, thirty new computers, four printers, one heavy duty photocopier and a grant of ¢200 million for the purchase of library books.
He said GET-FUND’s contributions to the Library underlines the fruitful partnership between the Church and the government in the development of this nation.
His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson Archbishop of Cape Coast, praised the SMA for pioneering seminary education and establishing the St. Teresa’s Seminary at Amisano and later Pedu to guarantee the continuous training of Priests for the local Church
Sir Dr. Lawrence Honny, a Consultant to the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, launched an endowment fund to support the library and development projects of the Seminary.
Many year groups of the Seminary pledged between ¢5 million and ¢10 million. The total amount realised was not immediately known.
Sir Fosuaba Mensah Banahene, Director of GET-FUND, reminded the laity of their responsibility to shoulder the development of the Church.
He pledged ¢10 million to the endowment Fund.
Photo credit: Fr. Raphael Owusu-Peprah
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