Be abreast of teachings of the church — Sir Kt Paintsil

The Supreme Knight of the Knights of Marshall, Sir Knight Bro. Ekow Paintsil, has called on Catholics, particularly Marshallans, to be abreast of the social teachings of the Church.
He said the prevailing global challenges of wars, abject poverty, injustices and marginalisation of people “make it pertinent to us Marshallans, as soldiers of Christ, to be well equipped with the Catholic social teachings which are central and an essential element of our faith based on the life and dignity of the human person.”

He was addressing the plenary session of the Ashanti/Denkyira regional conference of the Noble Order of Knights and Ladies of Marshall.

The conference, which was on the theme: “Unity in diversity,” saw the reconfiguration of the Ashanti/Denkyira regional council and court into three new regional councils and courts of the Noble Order.

The new regional councils and courts are Ashanti Central, that comprises components councils and courts from Kumasi, Mampong, Offinso and Mamponteng; Ashanti East that comprises KNUST, Ejisu and Konongo; and Ashanti South/Denkyira, which comprises Dunkwa-on-Offin, Obuasi, Bekwai and Santasi.

The Noble Order of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall is a catholic friendly society. It was formed in 1926 in Sekondi and named after Sir James Marshall, a British Judge, in the then Gold Coast, to immortalise his name for the pivotal role he played in the reestablishment of the Catholic faith in Ghana in 1800, after nearly 250 years after the first attempt by the Portuguese in 1482.

Sir Kt Paintsil was hopeful that the regional councils “will immensely bring about the effective and efficient administration of the various constituents councils of the representative regions.”

He also envisaged that the separation of the region, which is one of the largest region within the Order, into smaller regions would engender a heightened zeal for the evangelisation drive of the society by deepening the spirituality of members and their relations with God, reviewing the weaknesses of the councils and how to sustain those in need of assistance and strengthening the fraternal relations among members.

Sir Kt Paintsil called on all Catholics, particularly Marshallans, to, as a matter of utmost urgency, read the Papal and Episcopal documents of the church to be well versed in the social teaching for effective evangelisation.

A former administrator of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund), Sir Knight Bro. Fosuaba Mensah Banahene, has also asked Christians, particularly Catholics, to strive to know more about their faith by asking questions from their priests and leaders about things they do not understand.

That, he said, would equip them with the needed knowledge about the church and its teachings to enable them to defend her.

Sir Kt Bro. Banahene said it was not enough for members of the Noble Order to ask priests to say mass for them but should go a bit further to ask them to shed light on issues, processes and challenges facing “the church of our time.”

He charged the regional leaders of the Noble Order of Knights and Ladies of Marshall to set in motion programmes of instruction that would make members more knowledgeable about the order and further urged members to support the order financially, saying “when you bring your resourcefulness to the benefit of the Noble Order and become strongly equipped with knowledge about the church, you obviously become confident to defend the church at all times.”

For her part, the Grand Lady of the Ladies of Marshall, Most Respected Lady Margaret Yirenkyi, also entreated members not to be too busy for God.

She said although many of them had devoted their time to the activities of the church and their societies, that alone was not enough. She, therefore, urged them to slow down on their busy schedule to have some time for God in their life and to know Him better.

Daily Graphic/Ghana