The newly-appointed Bishop of Keta-Akatsi Diocese, Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, has appealed to the people of the Diocese to pray for him as he takes up his new appointment as their Shepherd.
He pledged to co-operate and collaborate with the Clergy, Religious and lay faithful in the Diocese to achieve growth in the Church.
He said his appointment would be a great blow to the faithful of the Donkorkrom Vicariate, where he had been the Apostolic Vicar, because they had just finished outlining strategies for the growth of the Church in that area.
The appointment was announced at the Christ the King Cathedral at Akatsi by Most Rev. Jean-Marie Speich, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana on Thursday, March 16.
It was made simultaneously in Rome and at the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS) in Accra by Very Rev. Fr. Lazarus Anondee, Secretary General of the NCS.
Bishop-Elect Kumordji succeeds Most Rev. Anthony Adanuty, who resigned last year after reaching the canonical retiring age of 75.
Most Rev. Emmanuel Fianu, SVD, Bishop of Ho, had been the Apostolic Administrator of Keta-Akatsi Diocese until the announcement.
Present at the ceremony at Akatsi were Bishop- Elect Kumordji, Bishops Fianu and Adanuty as well as scores of Priests, Religious and lay faithful of the Diocese.
The Nuncio called on the Clergy, Religious and the lay faithful to accord the new Bishop the necessary assistance he needed to do his work.
Bishop Adanuty wholeheartedly welcomed the choice of Bishop Kumordji as God’s own plan and assured him of his co-operation and support while Bishop Fianu expressed happiness that a substantive Bishop had been appointed to take over the Diocese.
Bishop-Elect Kumordji’s appointment was welcomed with great joy by the Clergy, Religious and lay faithful of the Diocese, who thanked the Holy Father for giving them a substantive Shepherd.
They pledged their unflinching support to the new Bishop with the expectation that he would continue to uplift the spirituality of the Clergy and the lay faithful and prayed that the faithful would rally behind him to continue the good works of his predecessor.
Bishop-Elect Kumordji, who becomes the second Bishop of the Keta-Akatsi Diocese, was born on March 24, 1956 in Accra as the fifth son of Leonard and Severina Kumordji.
He had his Primary Education at the Sacred Heart School at Derby Avenue and Middle School at Mamprobi Sempe 7 at Mamprobi both in Accra. He had his Secondary Education at St. Thomas Aquinas School also in Accra.
After his Secondary Education, he undertook Philosophical Studies at St Victor’s Major Seminary at Tamale from 1976 to 1979 and joined the Society of Divine Word (SVD) Novitiate in 1979, professing the First Vows on September 8, 1980 at St. George’s Parish at Koforidua.
From 1980 to 1983, he did his Theological Studies at the same Major Seminary at Tamale. After one year of pastoral experience in the Sunyani Diocese, he took his Final Vows on September 8, 1984 at the Sacred Heart Parish at Derby Avenue, Accra. He was ordained Priest by Most Rev. Dominic Andoh, then Bishop of Accra on July 14, 1985.
His Priestly ministry began in St. Augustine Church at Asesewa from 1985 to 1989, St. Maria Goretti Church at Battor from 1989 to1991 as Associate Pastor before undertaking a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Missiology at the Loyola University in Chicago from 1991 to 1993. He also obtained a Post Graduate Certificate in Religious Formation from St. Louis University in Missouri.
On his return in 1993, Bishop Kumordji was appointed Director of Formation in the SVD Formation House in Tamale and taught Pastoral Theology, Pastoral Counseling, Missiology and Homiletics at St. Victor’s Major Seminary, Tamale from 1993 to 2001.
He again went for further studies in Los Angeles from 2001 to 2005 where he acquired a Master’s Degree and PHD in Inter-Cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.
On June 22, 2005, Bishop Kumordji was elected and appointed the Provincial Superior of the SVD and President of the Conference of Superiors of Men Religious in Ghana.
With the erection of the Donkorkrom Apostolic Prefecture in the Afram Plains, he became the first Apostolic Prefect on June 12, 2007. On January 19, 2010, when the Prefecture was elevated to an Apostolic Vicariate, he was appointed the Apostolic Vicar with Episcopal character.
