By Damian Avevor
11 July 2016
Most Rev. Dennis Kofi Agbenyadzi, SMA, a Ghanaian Bishop of Berberati in the Central African Republic (CAR), has ordained three Priests for the Society of African Missions (SMA) at the Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish at Madina, Accra.
The new Priests are Rev. Frs. Francis Xavier KwadjoDzakpasu from St. Peter’s Church, NgleshieAmanfrom in the Accra Archdiocese;Cyril Divine Ahorsu, and MarkKodzoGebe, both from the Sacred Heart Parish at Fodeme-Helu, near Hohoe in the Ho Diocese.
The Ordination Mass wasconcelebrated by Very Rev. Fr. Fachtna O’driscoll, SMA, Superior General and Very Rev. Fr. Fabien Sognon, SMA Superior of the District in Formation of the Gulf of Guinea of which the Ghana Region belongs.
Over 70 Priests including Rev. Fr. James Owusu Yeboah, SMA Regional Superior of Ghana also concelebrated.
Delivering his homily in English and French, Bishop Agbenyadzireminded the new Priests that they were called by God to serve a divine purpose, urging them to be dedicated to the Ministry they had been called to serve.
The Bishop prompted that the Priesthood was a supreme gift which had to be received with humility, advising them to always stand for the truth and learn to listen deeply before they act.
He commended them for responding to the Lord’s call and accepting to serve Him, entreating them to be courageous and avoid attitudes and behaviours that were unpriestly because the success or downfall of Priests directly affects them and the people they minister to.
Each Priest was expected to be humble and work diligently by leading simple life as Christ did, he added, saying that they were also encouraged to bear good witness to their Priestly Vocation and uphold the truth, Doctrine and Teachings of the Church with fidelity.
Bishop Agbenyadzi, who hails from Agbedrafor, near Akatsi in the Keta-Akatsi Diocese,advised them to rededicate themselves to their Vocation and win more souls for Christ and be united in the Lord through the Word of God.
He urged them to position themselves beyond reproach, encourage and strengthen each other in the face of the challenges of the world.
As the Superior General, Fr. O’driscoll also reminded the new Priests that their ordination was a gift from God and must be used for His work, praying that “this ordination will inspire in our ordinands a remarkable commitment to mission towards those on the margins and the most abandoned.
He urged them to strive to be loyal Missionaries like the founder of SMA, thanking their parents for allowing their children respond to God’s call, hoping that the ordination might also inspire in many young people who participated in the ordination ceremony an openness to respond to God’s call to the Priesthood.
He said the ordination was a unique one because the Priests were ordained by a Ghanaian SMA Bishop and witnessed by 27SMA Superiors of the General Council from Rome,Provinces, Districts and Districts in formation who had attended the 2016 Plenary Council Meeting at the Ghana Regional House at Oshuiman, Amamoley Estate in Accra from May 30 to June 11, 2016.
Fr. Sognonsaid the Gulf of Guinea District in formation was blessed for hosting the Plenary Assembly and the ordination, praying that the newly ordained would continue to live by the tenets of the SMA.
He announced that Frs. Dzakpasu and Gebe had been posted to the Togo Region while Fr. Ahorsuwould work in the to the Region of La Cote d’Ivoire.
Fr. Owusu Yeboah said the ordination was a remarkable one since it was the first time in 18 years that Ghana Region had been privileged to witness the ordination of three candidates at a time.
“It is therefore an occasion to honour the past, celebrate the present and to plan for a progressive future,” he added, thanking Bishop Agbenyadzi for accepting to preside over the ordination.
Fr. Dzakpasucelebrated his first Mass at the St. Peter’s Church while Frs. Gebe and Ahorsu celebrated theirs at Sacred Heart Parish at Fodome –Helu.
The Society of African Missions was founded in Lyons, France by Bishop Melchior de Marion Bresillac on December 8, 1856, Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
The SMA is a missionary institution of Apostolic Life, which works in Africa, among Africans and people of African descent. It has a unique charism of working among the poor, the most abandoned and deprived, establishing Churches in areas not yet evangelised, building communities as well as training local Clergy.
On May 18, 1880, the first SMA Fathers namely August Moreau, SMA and Eugene Morat, SMA, arrived in the Gold Coast to establish the Catholic Church. Though the first 25 years were periods of struggle, hardships, frustrations, poverty, sickness and deaths, the Church gradually grew in the Gold Coast and experienced spiritual and physical development.
The Missionaries impact on evangelisation, community development, health and education in the Gold Coast were marvelous and unprecedented.
After the British Colonial Government had passed a new education ordinance in 1925, the Achimota College was opened in 1927 under the instrumentality of the SMA. The SMA Fathers helped established the Chaplaincy at the Achimota College.
The Church opened a Teacher Training college at St. Mary’s Convent under the direction of the OLA Sisters and the St. Augustine Training College also opened at Cape Coast under the management of the SMA.
The SMA also established other educational institutions in the Gold Coast, among which is Opoku Ware Secondary School at Kumasi.
Since the 20thCentury, the SMA has experienced new developments and realities. After the recruitment of the first black African in 1983, Rev. Fr. Michael Adrie from Ghana (first African Superior), the Africans have been spearheading the mission of the SMA in Africa and elsewhere.
The Africans are gradually taking over the mission, leadership and the administrative role of the Society in Africa from the French, Dutch and the Irish. Many of the SMA Regions are now under the administrative leadership of the Africans.
The Society now has about 106 African Priests, 15 Deacons and two Bishops. The Ghana Region has about 21 Priests, 17 of them on missions outside the country.
