Be innovative in your teachings- Catholic priests urged

THE Pro-Vice-Chancellor of the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), Very Rev. Fr. Prof. Anthony Afful-Broni, has called for innovation and creativity in the teaching of Catholic priests and leaders.

He described as worrying the rate at which the Catholic Church was losing its members to other denominations and faith, “partly because our messages have always been the same and lacking inventiveness.”

Very Rev. Fr. Prof Afful-Broni was speaking at the plenary session of the Greater Accra reunion conference of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, a charity and friendly organisation in the Catholic Church.

The three-day conference was on the theme: “Challenges of contemporary Catholic family in this era of new evangelisation.”

“The era of new evangelism goes beyond the old normal ways of doing things; it is also about adopting new ways of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, as well as defending the Catholic faith,” he said.

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Conference

The occasion was also used to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the reconfiguration  the Greater Accra Regional Conference into three regions, namely Accra West, Accra East and Tema regions.

The conference provided an opportunity to fraternise, explore avenues to build stronger networks and to strategise on how to protect the Catholic faith as well as project the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaking on the theme, Very Rev.  Fr. Prof Afful-Broni identified 10 challenges which were confronting the Catholic faith and family which needed immediate attention and redress.

He bemoaned the lack of commitment, missing sense of belonging, influence of Western culture which had led to materialism and the emergence of homosexuality in the society.

 

Major challenge

“The major challenge we’re confronted with as a church is the loss of our basic and senior high schools (SHS) to the public sector,” he said, noting that it had made it extremely difficult to spread the teachings of the church in such schools.

However, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor stated that all was not lost since a lot of the Marshallans held positions of authority that could be used to effect positive changes.

But he was quick to add that he was hopeful that as time went on, the church, through dialogue and peaceful negotiations with the public sector, such missionary schools could be returned to the church for better management.

He called on the Marshallansrgk to throw their weight behind the Catholic Bishops Conference in order to fight the cause of the church.

He implored them to do that through the use of their vocations, skills and knowledge in their various fields of endeavour to help propagate and defend the ideals and principles of the church.

 

Mandate of Marshallan

In his address, the Supreme Knight of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, Sir Knight Joseph Ekow Paintsil, reiterated the need for members of the group to stand tall and defend the gospel of Jesus Christ and the teachings of the church at all times.

“For us as Marshallans, we need to remain steadfast in our faith and put our trust in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ at all times; work progressively through prayers to deepen our spirituality, learn to be truthful and keep abreast of the teachings of the church,” he indicated.

He stressed that the mandate of members of the church and Marshallans to preach the gospel was non-negotiable.

Sir Knight Ekow Paintsil further reminded members about the role of Marshallans in helping the poor and the underprivileged in society.

 

“The theme for this year’s conference should encourage us to be united in our resolve to spread the gospel despite contemporary challenges in the family, to break the barriers and forge ahead in the defence, promotion and development of the Catholic Church,” he concluded.

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