The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) has encouraged Marshallans to embrace the appeal of Pope Francis in his Encyclical, Laudato Si and for a new dialogue about how the planet is being shaped, stressing that there was need for a conversation that includes everyone, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing and its human roots, concern and affects us all.
Most Rev. Philip Naameh, President of the GCBC and Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, stated this comments in a fraternal message on behalf of the GCBC at the opening of 9th Marshallan Reunion Conference which took place at the University of Ghana, Legon from 27th to 29th July, 2018.
The theme of the Reunion Conference was: “Management and the Conservation of the Environment” while the topic was “Laudato Si and implications for human development: the role of the Marshallan.
An estimated 6,500 Marshallans from Ghana, Togo/Benin, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Burkina Faso, La Cote d’Ivoire and London, the highest ever since the first reunion conference which was held at the St. Augustine’s College in Cape Coast in August 1961, attended the event which is held once every five years.
In the light of the Pope’s appeal, the Bishops urged Marshallans to create awareness about the issues of the environmental on all platforms by engaging their members, parishes and communities on proper waste management and create advocacy in favour of proper sanitation and protection of water bodies, adding that the Catholic Church is optimistic that when all play their roles effectively as ambassadors of a clean environment, many lives would be saved.
The Bishops in their message, hoped that the deliberations from the reunion conference will bear positively on the conviction of Pope Francis that “despite of the mistreatment, abuse and laments of Mother Earth, all was not lost and that human beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves and choosing again what is good and making a new start despite their mental conditioning”.
Welcoming participants in an address which touched on a wide-range of issues concerning the Noble Order, Sir Knight Bro. Ambrose Yennah, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Marshall, reported that membership of the Noble Order has seen an impressive growth in the Knights and Ladies branches of the Noble Order with the number of Councils and Courts having increased from 110 since the last Reunion Conference in 2013 to 143 and from 105 to 138 respectively.
He said the Noble Order has largely carried out its mission of lay evangelization by the consecration of Councils and Courts in Burkina Faso and La Cote D’Ivoire in addition to Liberia having obtained the status of a State Council and Court in 2017, adding that there are 27 Regional Councils and Courts in all Marshallan operating countries while the number of Junior Councils and Courts has also increased from 79 in 2013 to 98 in 2018.
The Supreme Knight stated that in line with the tenets of the Noble Order, Councils and Courts have continued to generously support charity works for the poor and needy in society while MAREDES, its NGO wing, has promoted the study of Science and Mathematics, especially for the girl-child in some selected Senior High Schools.
He expressed optimism that Marshallans will continue to be guided by the Holy Spirit to build, promote and develop a vibrant society of committed and knowledgeable Catholic mem and women, imbued with unalloyed Catholic faith, ever determined to play their individual roles to the highest level towards the realization of the Universal Sacrament of Salvation.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a solidarity message to the Reunion Conference which was read by Sir Knight Bro. Anthony Kemavor, stated that humanity today has an obligation to leave the next generation, an enduring legacy of a richer, more stable, more secure and more peaceful world, saying “we are only trustees of the land and resources currently at our disposal and since we are only “borrowing” this world from future generations, we owe it a fiduciary duty to future generations to manage and conserve the environment better”.
He said for this reason, he is determined to prevent forest degradation and deforestation, increase our forest cover and ensure the purity of our water bodies, stressing that his government is committed to ending illegal mining popularly called “galamsey”. He announced that government intends to undertake massive plantations, with both indigenous and exotic tree species, and also develop the bamboo and rattan industry to serve as effective substitutes for furniture and other wood products.
Other fraternal message which dwelt on the theme and topic of the reunion conference were from the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, International Alliance of Catholic Knights to which the Knights of Marshall is affiliated, Knights of St. John’s International and Ladies Auxiliaries, Forum of Papal Knights and Dames and International Council of Catholic Men.
Among the dignitaries who graced the ceremony were Rev. Msgr. Bernard Munono who represented Peter Cardinal Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Vatican and Guest of Honour, Worthy Bro. Colin Walsh, President of the International Alliance of Catholic Knights, Sir Knight Bro. Edward Prah, President of the International Council of Catholic Men (Unum Omnes), Major General James Dassah, Supreme Subordinate President of the Knights of St. John’s international, Sir Benedict Assorow, a member of the Forum of Papal Knights and Dames, Ghana.
Also present was the hierarchy of the Noble Order, namely Sir Knight Veteran Bro. Cdr. Dr. Edmund S. K. Kwaw, the Supreme Director who chaired the ceremony, Most Respected Lady Sis. Grace Budu-Smith, the Grand Lady and eight Substantive Past Supreme Knights and six Substantive Past Grand Ladies including Sir Knight Bro. James Adomako and Sir Knight Bro. Ing. Samuel Barnes, Most Respected Lady Sis. Dame Theresa Poobe and Most Respected Lady Sis. Margaret Gasie-Essilfie, among others.