Over one hundred and fifty Catholic Church leaders would arrive in Ghana to participate in the 2nd Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA) Plenary Assembly in Accra, Ghana from February 22 to 29, 2016.
The participants are made up of Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops and other Church leaders from 15 countries, namely, Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, The Gambia, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Senegal and Sierra Leone. The host, Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, would be fully represented by its members.
The eight- day Conference to be held at the at M Plaza Hotel in Accra, is on the theme: The New Evangelization and the Specific Challenges for the Church, Family of God in West Africa: Reconciliation, Development, Family Life.
Invited Guests expected at the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday, February 23, include President John Dramani Mahama, Ex-Presidents Jerry Rawlings and John Kufour, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Madam Tendal Musoka, all the ambassadors of West African countries, Representatives from the Christian Council, Office of Chief Imam, Pentecostal Council, Ahmadiyya Muslim Mission, All Catholic MPs, Officers of the Security agencies, among others.
RECOWA- CERAO is a Catholic Regional grouping which brings together Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone Catholic Bishops in West Africa. The current President of RECOWA-CERAO is His Eminence Theodore Cardinal Adrien Sarr, Emeritus Archbishop of Dakar, Senegal.
In June 1963, Conference Episcopale Regionale de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (CERAO) was formed to bring together all Francophone and Lusophone Catholic Bishops from West Africa under one regional grouping.
Anglophone Catholic Bishops in West Africa followed suit in 1977 with the formation of a regional body known as the Association of the Episcopal Conferences of Anglophone West Africa (AECAWA).
In the 1990s, the idea was mooted for a union of Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Episcopal Conferences so that there could be better understanding, exchange of views, experiences and general pastoral collaboration among all the Episcopal Conferences of West Africa. Invitations for AECAWA member countries to attend meetings organised by CERAO member countries and vice versa soon became the order of the day.
In December 2000, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, the Governing Councils of AECAWA and CERAO met for the first time in a Joint Assemlbly to deliberate on the theme, Building the Church Family of God in West Africa-Opportunities and Challenges.
After duly reflecting on the theme, participants at this Joint Assembly decided to form a union which would be a merger of AECAWA and CERAO allowing in the process, an integration of all English-Speaking, Portuguese-speaking and French-speaking Episcopal Conferences in West Africa into one formidable union of Episcopal Conferences to be known as RECOWA-CERAO.
RECOWA-CERAO was officially inaugurated in Abuja, Nigeria in 2007 and the 1st Plenary Assembly took place in Yamoussoukro, Cote d’Ivoire, from January 23- 29, 2012. It is the turn of Ghana to host the 2nd Plenary Assembly this year. The Catholic Church in Ghana is proud and privileged to the Princes and prelates of the Church in West Africa as well as all other participants. Welcome to Ghana, the land of golden opportunities.
By Damian Avevor
