Introduction.
The Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, a Catholic friendly society founded in 1926 and dedicated to both spiritual and material wellbeing of its members; as well as working for the common good of society through charitable works and advocacy.
We successfully held the two-day 2023 edition of the biennial Marshall-Moreau-Murat Memorial (MMMM) lectures on 22nd and 23rd June at Christ the King Church Parish Hall, Cantonments (Accra).
The MMMM lectures were established in 1989 to immortalize Sir James Marshall, a former Chief Justice of the then Gold Coast who worked hard to reactivate the Catholic Church in the 19th century after a period of dormancy in the Gold Coast. It is also in recognition of the two missionary priests, Rev. Frs. Auguste Moreau and Eugene Murat, both of the Society for Africa Mission (SMA) who were assigned to Elmina in 1880 as pioneer missionaries for the re-establishment of the Catholic Church in the Gold Coast.
The Marshall-Moreau-Murat Memorial lectures is also a historical recall of this event and the connections among these outstanding personalities for the Catholic Church in Ghana.
The Knights and Ladies of Marshall was also named after the Scotsman, Sir James Marshall.
The 2023 lectures, under the theme “The quest of a Christian for Spirituality: Some pathways for Catholics and Marshallans in particular”, were delivered by Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD – Catholic Bishop of Ho Diocese and Vice President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
The 2023 lecture series attracted both physical and online participants mainly from the members of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall across Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, Cote d Ivoire, Benin, Burkina Faso and the United Kingdom. We also welcomed a wide range of participants from the public; including members of other Societies in the Catholic Church, the Media, Priests and Religious.
Our entire membership express deep gratitude to Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu who nourished us with a great depth of spiritual reflection, analysis and exhortation. We continue to acknowledge the accomplishment of the Committee responsible for Historical, Research and Beatification who organized this year’s lectures, under the chairmanship of Sir Kt. Bro. Andrew Quayson.
Declaration:
- We confirm that we were profoundly inspired by the exhortation of Most Rev. Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, who delivered the lectures, not to be “Minimalist” Catholics by contending ourselves with the basics provided in catechism. The Noble Order will reinvigorate its ongoing programmes on catechesis, workshops, seminars, recollection and retreats as means to deepen our understanding, participation and living out our faith in society and the church.
- We commit to practicing the six pathways recommended to us by the presenter of the 2023 lectures; namely continuous learning, attentive listening and adequately responding, self-mortification, popular catholic devotions, catholic action and practicing synodality.
- We renew our unwavering commitment to the Catholic Church, loyalty to its leadership and the practice of its time-tested liturgy and acts of spirituality that are at the disposal the faithful.
- In conclusion, we recommit to deepening our understanding and practicing our proper roles as enlightened laity of the church; especially by contributing to the renewal of the temporal order. This essentially will reawaken us to a faith-action in our socio-political milieu which encompasses family, community, economy, politics and the physical environment.
Signed by:
Sir Kt. Bro. Patrick Kobina Anumel, SUPREME KNIGHT
Most Respected Lady Sis. Elizabeth Anderson-Yebuah, GRAND LADY.
Dated: 26th June, 2023