Most Rev. Joseph Kwaku Afrifah-Agyekum, Bishop of Koforidua Diocese, has advised Ghanaian youth to seriously consider learning French as a second language to enhance their communication with people from Ghana’s neighbouring Countries who are French speaking.
He said the time had come for Ghanaian youth to learn two or more international languages and not be comfortable with only the English Language.
The Bishop said this when he presided over a Eucharistic celebration to climax this Year’s Accra Archdiocesan World Youth Day Launch at Dodowa on April 01.
The celebration, from Friday, March 31 to April 01, attended by over 2,000 Catholic youth of the Accra Archdiocese, was on the theme: The Mighty One Has Done Great Things for Me and Holy is His Name.
Using as an example his own experience in La Cote d’Ivoire recently where he was unable to communicate with his colleagues because of the language barrier, he encouraged the youth to make a strenuous effort to learn other people’s language to be able to communicate to people from different parts of the world.
He urged particularly Basic School Pupils, Junior and Senior High School students, who were being introduced to the French language to take the subject seriously, else they would regret in the future.
Touching on the theme from Luke 1:49, Bishop Afrifah-Agyekum entreated the youth to totally submit themselves to the will of God.
He encouraged them to open their hearts to God, profess, defend and practice the Catholic faith.
The Bishop urged them to emulate the Blessed Virgin Mary’s humility and ask probing questions concerning their faith just as Mary did when she received the message of the Angel.
He advised the youth not to allow themselves to be influenced by bad peers and distractive gadgets but focus their attention on Christ and trust in Him always.
The Mass was concelebrated by Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Archbishop of Accra, who commended the youth for turning up in their numbers.
He entreated them as the future of the Church, to contribute to the restoration of the Holy Spirit Cathedral at Adabraka and not spend lavishly on phone calls and other unnecessary things.
The Archbishop recalled how as young children, he and his friends contributed to the tiling of the Cathedral, and feels proud whenever he entered it.
He commended the Accra Archdiocesan Catholic Youth Council (AADCYC), the Deanery and the Parish Youth Councils for organising their members to attend the programme.
Archbishop Palmer-Buckle called on the youth of the Archdiocese to prepare to host their colleagues from other Dioceses for next year’s national version of the World Youth Day celebration in Accra.
He also entreated Parishes to support their youth to participate in the international version of the celebration in Panama in 2019.
Activities to mark the celebration included Stations of the Cross, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Confessions, Rosary Procession through the Dodowa Township and Medical Screening for the community members.
The World Youth Day celebration was instituted on December 20, 1985 by Pope John Paul II, now Saint Pope John Paul II to bring the youth all over the world together.
This followed the invitation of the Holy Father for an International Jubilee of Youth on Palm Sunday in St. Peter’s Square at the close of the Holy Year of Redemption in 1984.
Amazed by the over 300,000 young people from around the world who responded to his invitation, the Holy Father entrusted to the youth what is now known as the World Youth Day Cross, to be carried the world as a symbol of the love of Christ for humanity.
The following Palm Sunday, which coincided with the United Nation’s International Year of the Youth, the Holy Father took the opportunity to welcome the youth of the world to Rome again, later, announcing the institution of the WYD. The first official WYD was held in 1986.
Every Palm Sunday has since been designated as World Youth Day, alternately celebrated at the Diocesan and International levels.
The first international WYD was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
There have been 12 International World Youth Day celebrations, where the youth continue to answer the invitation of the Holy Father and carry home the message received to be Christ’s light to the world.
While these events are organised by the Clergy and Laity of the Catholic Church, youth of all faiths are invited to attend and encounter Christ, making this gathering truly universal.
