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Bishop Kwofie assumes office as Catholic Archbishop of Accra

PMost Reverend John Bonaventure Kwofie last Thursday took canonical possession of the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra.

The possession thus makes him the Archbishop of the Accra, succeeding Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, who is currently the Archbishop of Cape Coast and the Apostolic Administrator of Accra.

Most Rev. Kwofie’s position was conferred on him by the Holy Father, Pope Francis on January 2, this year.

His appointment brings the number of active archbishops in the country to four with the other three in Cape Coast, Tamale and Kumasi.

Present at the ceremony were the top echelon of the Catholic Church and its allied institutions, the Chief-of-staff, Ministers of State, Members of Parliament and traditional rulers from across the country.

The Apostolic Nuncio in Ghana, Most Rev. Jean Marie Speich, who joined Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development to perform the enthronement, commended the new Archbishop for his canonical possession of the Accra Archdiocese.

He expressed his gratitude to the new archbishop for allowing God to move him to a new place and to lead a new flock, noting that the new place would entail new challenges, and prayed that God’s presence would guide him.

On his part, Catholic Archbishop of Tamale and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC), Most Rev. Philip Naameh, said the four years that Most Rev. John Kwofie spent as the Chief Shepherd of the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese was a service full of dedication and selflessness.

In a speech read on his behalf by the Chief-of-Staff, Madam Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed confidence in the new archbishop, stressing that “I am confident that the previous position you have held in several capacities within the Catholic Church will put you in good stead to oversee its affairs.”

He was of the hope that Most Rev. John Kwofie would hold fast to the virtues of the Catholic Church, which were faith, hope, charity, fortitude, justice and prudence during his reign as Archbishop of Accra.

President Akufo-Addo prayed that the doors of the Accra Archdiocese would be opened to him under Most Rev. John Kwofie’s leadership.

Most Reverend John Bonaventure Kwofie was ordained as the fourth Bishop of the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese on September 13, 2014, and became a member of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

He later joined the quinquennial Ad Limina Visit Apostolorum to Rome which marked his first step as Bishop with the Papal Blessing of the Holy Father, Pope Francis.


BY FREDERICK GADESE-MENSAH

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