Sierra Leone’s Freetown Catholic Archdiocese Optimistic New Minor Seminary to Spur Growth of Priestly Vocations

Acknowledging the fact that not everyone who joins the Junior Seminary ends up a Priest, Fr. Konteh said that formation in Christian values, which is imparted in the Seminaries is key for anyone aspiring to serve as a Consecrated.

He described Seminary as an opportunity “to form good Christian men.”

“The primary objective of a Seminary, in my view, is to train people to become Priests, but most importantly to train them to become good people,” the award-winning Sierra Leonean Catholic Priest, who also serves as the Executive Director of Caritas Freetown, and the new Director of the Archdiocesan Communications Unit said.

He said that he was one of the few Catholic Priests in Sierra Leone, who attended Junior Seminary in his journey to the Priesthood. Many others did not, the President of Priests in the West African country said, and added, “Junior Seminary is very important. It is formation in our Christian faith.”

Recalling the days he would witness numerous vocations to the Priesthood in Sierra Leone, Fr. Konteh told ACI Africa, “Before the Archdiocese of Freetown was curved out of the then Freetown & Bo, we always had the highest number of Seminarians in the country. But after the division of the Archdiocese, we realized that the number that was coming from Freetown was very small.”

“We have never had more than seven Major Seminarians from Freetown,” he said.

Fr. Konteh expressed fear that the decline in the vocations to the Priesthood may have severe implications in the near future for the Archdiocese of Freetown. 

“As a matter of fact, we have experienced such a situation in the past. Thankfully, we have always had a good relationship with the Diocese of Gboko under Bishop Wiliam Amove Avenya, who has sent four of his Priests to help us in the Archdiocese. These Priests are really helpful in the context that vocation seems to be declining for us,” he said.

Compared to Freetown, vocations to the Priesthood in other Dioceses in Sierra Leone, which is 77 percent Muslim, are booming.

In the February 18 interview, Fr. Konteh shared with ACI Africa that the largest number of Priests in Sierra Leone come from the Catholic Diocese of Makeni. “Other Dioceses are also trying to keep up, but the least growth is in Freetown.”

“City life is not easy at all. Young men are attracted to other things,” he said, explaining the dwindling Priestly vocations in Freetown.

The Sierra Leonean Catholic Priest said that to address the shortage of Priests in the Archdiocese of Freetown, the college of consultors of the Metropolitan See met, and proposed to the Local Ordinary, Archbishop Edward Tamba Charles, the establishment of a Junior Seminary to spur growth of Priestly vocations.

“We thank God we had the opening of the Junior Seminary, and we see enthusiastic young men sending their applications to join it,” Fr. Konteh said, adding the new institution will be based in Kingtom, Freetown, with the Minor Seminarians attending St. Edwards school.