Catholic Bishop bemoans falling numbers as Asutuare Catholic church chalks 80 years

The St. John Mary Vianney Catholic Church has climaxed its 80th-anniversary celebration with a special thanksgiving service at Asutuare in the Greater Accra Region amidst concerns about the dwindling number of Catholics across the country.

Auxiliary Bishop of Accra, Bishop John Kobina Louis in his message during the event described the situation as disturbing.

He attributed the worrying trend to several factors including both external and internal factors such as the poaching of its young members by other faiths, particularly in educational institutions.

“What is happening is that some people are poaching the youth in senior high schools and in the tertiary schools…when they move to these senior high schools, of course, they don’t have the parents there and then people of other faith turn to prey on them and make them members of their church,” said the bishop, adding that the situation was also very prevalent in the teacher and nursing training colleges, universities and other tertiary institutions.

Over the past decades, the population of Catholics in Ghana has been on a downward trajectory.

Referencing the last three Population and Housing Censuses (PHC) to back his concerns, Bishop John Kobina Louis noted that data shows that the number of Catholics has slammed from 13.1% in 2010 to 10% in 2020, representing about 5% decrease from the 2000 census where the figure stood at 15%.

Disclosing various interventions being adopted by the church towards addressing the situation, the Bishop told journalists that priests have been given the additional responsibility of overseeing the welfare of Catholic students in its jurisdiction.

He outlined: “What we intend to do is to intensify chaplaincy work and also ask that every Catholic church…the priest should pay attention to pastoral service to the Catholics in the schools.

Asked about the impact of the decline on the church, the bishop answered, “We may not feel it now but the future impact would be very great because it is the youth that are being poached, this will be the future of the church and if people are poaching them away, it would mean an empty church in the future.”

He further underscored the need to continue re-strategizing to ensure that the trend does not continue in the future.

On the future of the St. John Vianney Catholic Church, the bishop expressed expectations of the number of Sunday services increasing to three or four over the next eighty years to commensurate with the rising population.

Additionally, he observed that the policies of successive governments over the years have decreased the influence of the Catholic church on Catholic schools which continue to adversely impact the quality of education and moral upbringing.

He expressed the hope that timely measures would be taken to address the trend.

The anniversary was marked on the theme; “80 years of missionary work with love and commitment on Osudoku land.”

Adorned in their immaculate anniversary cloth with a colourful logo representing the very shades of people who collectively constitute the congregation, members of the church sang and danced to the glory of God for how far they came through.

The church used the occasion to honour two boys named Polycap Visu Vittor and one other who died during the building of the church when the boat which they were using to convey sand ashore capsized.

His tomb was relocated to the church grounds where it was inaugurated during the celebrations. Other activities held included a candlelight procession through the principal streets of Asutuare, a mass wedding for some couples amongst other activities.

The church previously served as an outstation of the Agomanya Parish but later gained the status of a parish in 2001 with five outstations.

Planning Committee Chairman for the Anniversary, Mr. Charles Hombey lauded the contributions of the church to the development of its host community.

According to him, the Roman Catholic Basic School established by the church has churned out prominent personalities who have turned out for the good of society.

Member of Parliament (MP) for Shai Osudoku Constituency, Hon Linda Akweley Ocloo who graced the occasion applauded the church for its interventions including offering educational scholarships, creating employment opportunities for the youth as well as support for women amongst others.

She however urged the church to continue to offer assistance towards the people, community and district to ensure its development.

On his part, 2020 Parliamentary Candidate for Shai Osudoku and Aspiring MP for the area on the Ticket of the NPP, Mr. Benjamin Nargeh interview stressed that the government couldn’t do it all alone without the involvement of the church and hence the need for partnership between the two sides to ensure progress.

To achieve this, Mr. Nargeh called for a good relationship between the political class and religious bodies to establish a strong bond that would inure to the benefit of the people and charged other churches to emulate the contributions of the orthodox churches.

150 confirmation candidates were also Confirmed into the church as well as the cutting of a special anniversary cake to mark the occasion.

The church established the Roman Catholic basic school, opened a computer lab for the school as well as produced some priests to serve in the Catholic church.

The idea to establish the St. John Vianney Catholic Church was conceived 80 years ago by a goldsmith named Numo Peter Teye Azinaho who contacted the Catholic church for the necessary arrangements.