As St. Peter’s Seminary marks Diamond Jubilee
Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, says Priestly Formation should be a shared responsibility among all stakeholders – parents, guardians, Seminarians and the Church.
He said it was the duty of parents as first educators to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord and to form them holistically for the benefit of society.
The Seminarian or student must be involved and committed to his formation to truly become what God wants him to be, he added.
The Archbishop was delivering a Keynote Address at the opening of the 12th Theology Week of the St. Peter’s Regional Seminary at Pedu near Cape Coast.
Themed: Sixty Years of Priestly Formation for the Church in Ghana and the Universal Church – a Shared Responsibility, it was part of activities to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Seminary.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said the task and responsibility of the Church and the faithful was to nurture vocations especially to the Priesthood, Religious and Consecrated Life and marriage.
“As a shared responsibility, it begins with praying to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into His Vineyard. Then it follows with the calling of people and nurturing them to follow Christ, then the provision of logistics for the Formation”, he stressed.
The Prelate stated that the Church was to ensure that parents, educators and Formators were properly evangelized and adequately formed to enable them guide the young ones on the right path.
He called on Formators to help Seminarians listen to what God was asking of them and advised them to be open and malleable for proper Formation.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle who is a member of the Governing Council of the Seminary, noted that after six decades of existence, the stakeholders needed to evaluate its activities and position it to fulfil its objectives.
He reiterated that the time had come for the review of the Formation Programmes and course content of the Seminary.
The Chief Shepherd of Accra congratulated the Seminary on its Diamond Jubilee, stating that it should be a time for retrospection, evaluation and to strategize for the future, appealing to the authorities of the Seminary to research and properly document its history, collect and compile data of the Alumini.
Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Louis Tuffour, Vicar General of the Kumasi Archdiocese, who spoke on Theological Formation of Priests in the Contemporary Society, said apart from the four main pillars of Seminary Formation – Spiritual, Human, Intellectual and Pastoral, Discernment and Competency should be introduced at the beginning and end respectively of Seminary Formation.
He emphasized that discernment which is the knowledge of one’s self, helps one to identify who he is, his potentials and aspirations while competency should be the outcome of every Formation.
He reiterated Pope Francis’ call for Priests to denounce the plague of careerism and see the Priesthood as a call from God to Serve Him and humanity.
Stating that the training of Seminarians did not only depend on the right regulations but also on competent educators, he recommended that suitable Formators who were well prepared in sound doctrine be sent to the Seminaries to bring up the young men to face the challenges of their time.
Formatees, he said, should be subjected to vigilant and careful enquiry keeping in mind their age, development, intentions, freedom of choice, spiritual, intellectual, moral fitness and capacity to undertake the obligations of the Priesthood.
Rev. Msgr. Hilary Senoo of the Ho Diocese, one of the pioneers of the Seminary, recounted and shared experiences of his Seminary days with the Seminarians, reminiscing some activities and events of his days.
He suggested that the Seminary authorities organise programs for the Alumni to share their experiences and expertise with the Seminarians.
Most Rev. Matthias Kobina Nketsiah, Archbishop of Cape Coast, who chaired the programme, congratulated the Seminary which had in the past sixty years trained many young men holistically for the Priesthood, one of whom is a Cardinal.
Rev. Fr. Robert Synper, Rector of the Seminary, said the programme was put together to celebrate the relevance of the sixty years of existence of Seminary at Pedu and to deliberate on ways of making it self-supporting.
The St. Peter’s Seminary, the Premier Major Seminary in the country was started on March 12, 1957.
