Archdiocese of Accra to engage Ghana’s young people in dialogue

Apr 26, 2024

By Gabriel Asempa Antwi
Ghana’s Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has lined-up several activities aimed at fostering dialogue and collaboration between the Church’s hierarchy and its vibrant youth community. The initiatives will culminate in a Youth Congress slated for June 2024.

Under the theme Present & Connected, the 2024 Accra Archdiocesan Youth Congress promises to be a forum where young people will have the opportunity to engage directly with Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie and his two auxiliaries bishops — Anthony Narh Asare, and John Kobina Louis, as well as other members of the clergy.

Take-up your role in the Church
During a discussion session at the launch of the Youth Congress held at the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Accra recently, auxiliary bishop Anthony Narh Asare emphasised the importance of active participation from the youth. He urged them to move beyond mere criticism and take ownership of their roles within the Church.

“If this is your Church, if you love Christ then you must love His Church. And if you live in the Church, then all hands on deck,” Bishop Asare asserted.

Let us dialogue
He continued, “Come, is there anything worrying you in your parish, in your family, wherever you work, in your school, let us dialogue about it. You know it is when you share, then you become more educated,” said Bishop Asare.

For his part, the Youth Chaplain of the Archdiocese of Accra, Fr Alphonse Bulloro, echoed Bishop Asare’s sentiments, emphasising the congress as an opportunity for the youth to share their ideas and concerns directly with the archbishop and clergy.

“This year 2024, the youth of the Archdiocese of Accra will go into Congress. The purpose of this congress is for them to talk to our archbishop, chief shepherd, and his auxiliaries and the priests of the archdiocese who are ready to listen to them,” stated Fr Bulloro.

Present & Connected The congress, scheduled to take place from June 26 to 29, will kick off with a three-day intensive dialogue session at St Paul’s Major Seminary, Sowutuom, bringing together 150 youth from various youth movements and deaneries across the Archdiocese of Accra. This session aims to delve into pertinent issues affecting the youth and the Church.

On June 29, the congress will culminate in a grand gathering of approximately 3,000 youth at the El Wak Sports Stadium.

The climax event seeks to not only celebrate the unity and vibrancy of the youth but also to showcase the outcomes of the dialogue sessions and inspire collaborative solutions to challenges faced by the Church and society.

“The young people have this opportunity to journey with our archbishop and his auxiliaries and also the leaders of the archdiocese,” emphasised Fr Bulloro.

“We pray that everything will be successful,” said the Youth Chaplain. --Vatican News