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Catholic Service Organization in Ghana Boost Bishops’ Fight against COVID-19

Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie of Accra receiving Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from Major-General Peter Sangber-Dery, the Supreme Subordinate President of the Knights of St. John International in Ghana at a ceremony at the National Catholic Secretariat, Accra on June 23, 2020.

Members of a Catholic service organization have, on the occasion of the feast of their patron saint, donated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to the Bishops in Ghana, to distributed to Catholic Health facilities around the country as part of the ongoing efforts in curbing COVID-19.

The donation from the Supreme Subordinate Commandery of the Knights of St. John International (KSJI) was presented to the Bishops at a ceremony at the National Catholic Secretariat in Accra where the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) is headquartered.

Presenting the items worth GHC40,000.00 (US$7,000.00), KSJI President, Major-General Peter Sangber-Dery, said that since the pandemic was still in the system, the Order decided to once again support the Bishops to reach the front-liners in Catholic Health facilities.

The items included surgical mask, disposable surgical masks, face shields, disposable head covers, disposable gowns, gallons of sanitizers, and liquid soap among others.

Receiving the items on behalf of the Bishops on the feast of Nativity of John the Baptist, June 24, Archbishop John Bonaventure Kwofie expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the KSJI in supporting the GCBC to fight the pandemic through their humanitarian gestures.

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“This gesture is a clear indication of your solidarity with Bishops of Ghana,” the Archbishop said and prayed for God’s continuous protection and blessings upon the members of the organization.

Meanwhile, Catholics in the West Africa country of Ghana have been asked to emulate the life lessons of St. John the Baptist of challenging the status quo and living what they believe.

“Lead people to Christ; be genuine in humility and strive to oppose injustice and corruption in this country,” the Koforidua-Ho Grand Commandery and Ladies Auxiliary of the Knights of St. John International said in a message.

The June 24 message signed by Brig. Gen. Francis Kumi, the Grand President and Respected Miranda Sam, the Grand Auxiliary President urged members to emulate their patron, St. John the Baptist by craving an authentic spirituality as John the Baptist did.

“For us today, our faith needs to challenge the established form of religious expression. All traditions can get stale and lose their heart. But people today crave an authentic spirituality as much as they did two thousand years ago,” the officials of the two service orders said.

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The officials implored the members “to be genuine seekers who will go out into their own deserts, away from the ‘business as usual’, to find a more genuine way of living for God and country.”

“However great or small we think our calling and ministry may be, it is irrelevant unless its true purpose is to lead people to Christ,” he said, adding that St. John the Baptist’s purpose in life had been fulfilled and “we need to imitate this way of humility like John.”

The Message added, “It may not need us calling out in the desert like John, but we can sure howl at the gross injustices in this world. Learning to see the world as God sees, to remember what he says is right and wrong should always drive us to put it right.”