Ghanaian Vatican Official Urges New Priests in Cameroon to “cultivate” Eucharistic Spirit

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“Seek to cultivate within yourselves and in full communion with your Archbishop the spirit of the Eucharist with which you nourish God's people every day of your lives,” he said. 

“This invitation to docile obedience to God and compassionate love for others is very much within the spirit of Lent,” Cardinal Turkson said, and added, “You are constituted ministers of the Eucharist, and as the disciples sent by Jesus and as the 60 ancient bearers of the spirit of Moses and today of your Archbishop, you are to do the will of the Father.”

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The 73-year-old Cardinal, who served as Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting of Integral Human Development from August 2016 till December 2021 when he resigned continued, “We all come out of the Seminary powerful in knowledge, powerful in whatever skills. But the Lord doesn't need that. The Lord uses what comes from Him. That's what he sends us with; that's what he sent Moses with, not his wisdom from the Egyptian court of Pharaoh that failed.”

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He went on to urge the newly ordained Priests “not only to preach the word of God to the faithful but to nourish and feed them with the body and blood of Christ.”

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Cardinal Turkson said, “As ministers of the Eucharist, we are invited to be obedient to the will of the Father all days of our lives, and then to live in solidarity with our brothers and sisters, sharing their message, sharing their graciousness of mercy, everything they go through.”

“We pray for them always in the exercise of this ministry to be nourished by themselves by this invitation to obedience to the Father and to feed God's people with the same,” he added.

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In his speech during the Priestly Ordination celebration, the Local Ordinary of Douala Archdiocese called upon members of the Clergy in his Metropolitan See to abandon personal projects and place themselves entirely at the service of Christ and His people.

Members of the Clergy are at the service of the community, Archbishop Kleda said, adding that a Clergy’s “sole concern and project is to ensure that the act he wants to perform will serve to proclaim the Gospel, the mission entrusted to him by the Lord.”

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“The Priest is not there, therefore, to carry out his personal projects. We must be totally at the service of the Lord and his Church,” the Local Ordinary of Douala since November 2009 said. 

During his four-day visit, Cardinal Turkson met with Priests and visited St. Jerome Catholic University Institute of Douala.

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On February 25, he concluded his visit with a thanksgiving Mass at the St. Monica’s Parish of Douala Archdiocese.

Jude Atemanke is a Cameroonian journalist with a passion for Catholic Church communication. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Currently, Jude serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.