The Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, Most Rev. Phillip Naameh, has admonished the faithful especially, Christians to stop enslaving their partners.
He noted with concern that most faithful hide under some traditional norms and cultural payment of dowry, to bully and treat their wives like slaves.
Most Rev. Naameh was speaking during a pontifical mass held in Tamale at the weekend to climax the centenary celebrations of the birth of Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery.
The event was meant to thank God for the gift of life of Cardinal Porekuu Dery and his influence on the church and society.
The Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference, in collaboration with the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, organised the event to mark the birth of Cardinal Porekuu Dery.
Cardinal Porekuu Dery was born in 1918 at Zimuopare, a village in the Nandom Traditional Area, in the Upper West Region, and was the first Dagau to have been ordained to the priesthood in 1951 hence became the first Catholic Priest in the North.
He rose through the ranks in the Catholic Church and became the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale when the Tamale Diocese was elevated to the rank of an Archdiocese on May 30, 1977, a position he held until retiring in March 1994.
Pope Benedict XVI in March 2006, consecrated Archbishop Peter Porekuu Dery, a Cardinal, and in 2008 died at the age of 90 years.
Due to his contribution to development of society the government then accorded him a state burial in Tamale.
Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery contributed immensely to the development of the Church and society, loved all and worked at denouncing customary practices that tended to discriminate against the dignity of women and their worth as persons.
Most Rev. Naameh entreated Catholics to renew their lives emulating what Cardinal Porekuu Dery stood for to promote development.
The Archbishop thereby exalted the lay faithful to use their faith to transform the culture and the temporary order to evangelise to liberate women such that dowry would not enslave wives to their husbands.
He also advised the Christians to continue to promote peaceful co-existence with other religious groups as the Cardinal Porekuu Dery used to preach.
Mr Salifu Saeed, the Northern Regional Minister, extolled the virtues of Cardinal Porekuu Dery and stressed that he left a legacy of peace and development.
He challenged all to commit to the legacies of Cardinal Porekuu Dery to accelerate national growth.
The Minister who represented President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo further pleaded with religious leaders to help bring lasting peace to Chereponi and Saboba.
FROM YAKUBU ABDUL-MAJEED, TAMALE
