Accra Catholic Archdiocese ordains new priests

The Catholic Archdiocese of Accra has ordained nine young men into the Catholic priesthood with a call on them to draw lost souls to Christ and eschew all forms of deviant behaviour.

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, who made the call, said the Catholic Church had the tendency to expand from its current state if the newly ordained priests lived modest lives that would be deserved of emulation.

He asked the priests never to forget the mission for which they were called — to evangelise —especially through their own way of life, words and deeds. 

The colourful ceremony, which was held at the Holy Spirit Cathedral at Adabraka in Accra, was attended by priests, bishops, members of the Catholic Church and well-wishers.

After the nine had gone through the ordination rituals, the archbishop and all the Catholic priests present laid their hands on each of them and prayed for them.

Challenges 

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said available statistics indicated that the membership of the Catholic Church was slowly diminishing, a situation he described as worrying.

For this development to be addressed, he tasked the newly ordained priests and all other Catholics to exhibit lifestyles that would attract more people to the church.

“Your life must be salt to the earth. We all must not make our Catholic doctrines and faith tasteless. We must add value to our Catholic faith, doctrines, devotions and the holy mass.” 

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“It is now time to go out there and fish. Cast your nets wide and be fishers of men and not shepherds of men.The time has come when Catholics should not sit back but draw souls to God,” he advised.

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said the church would benefit fully from the operations of the priests if they abstained from living ostentatious lives and rather lived lives that would not bring the name of the church into disrepute.

Charitable works

For the newly ordained priests to make their impact felt, the Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle charged them to visit unbelievers, teach them the ideologies and teachings of the gospel and empower them to live chaste lives.

He also asked them to visit the sick and the distressed and encourage all to help them overcome challenges in life, so that all would be built up spiritually and mentally.  

In addition, he charged the newly ordained priests to preach the truth to congregants and anyone they came into contact with, since that was the motive for which they were called.