Revamp Programmes To Meet New Trends – Religious Told

Members of the African Religious Union, Ghana (ARUG) have been called upon to revamp theirprogrammes to meet new trends in order to help sustain their apostolate.Rev. Fr. Bernard Appiah-Adjei, Cathedral Administrator of the Donkorkrom Vicariate who madethe call said some religious projects are dying because they are outmoded mainly due to the factthat members of these congregations did not read the signs of the time.He said this in a presentation on: ARUG beyond 50: The Role of the African Religious inEvangelisation in Ghana at the 2024 ARUG Congress and the climax of the Golden JubileeCelebrations in the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese.Fr. Appiah-Adjei said the Religious need to avoid the spiritual euthanasia and emulate themissionaries and some pioneer ARUG members who were trailblazers and daring. As PopeFrancis says in Evangelii Gaudium, the Church has need for pastors and not administrators.“Aiming at positions, and privileged places, and just managing what pioneers have achievedwithout breaking new ground is a challenge African religious men and women need tosurmount”, he added.According to him, other challenges that the African Religious are faced with include financialconstraint. “In most religious institutes dominated by African members, there has been aprogressive withdrawal of foreign assistance in aid of the mission. This is no malice on the partof missionaries. First of all, foreign benefactors supported the work of people they knew.Missionaries used to preach mission appeal and made the needs of the mission known. In recenttimes most old missionaries have died and there aren't new ones coming because of lack ofvocations in Europe and America”, he stated.Fr. Appiah-Adjei noted that though indigenous religious men and women have not beenintimidated by the enormous achievements of the missionaries, many challenges thwart theirefforts at evangelisation and catechesis. Among them are the sustenance of legacies, the naturalfamily, vernacular, Pentecostalism, neo-paganism, politicization, and total conversion.To deal with these challenges, he suggested an interaction among religious institutes whichopens them up and avail their talents to one another.The consistently dwindling percentage of Catholics in Ghana, he said, demands that religiousmen and women be directly more involved in evangelisation and catechesis.The Priest also suggested cordial relationships with proper definitions of roles and expectationsamong Parish Priests and Religious men and women.He called for discipline and commitment among the Religious men and women. “Like them orhate them, the majority of religious missionaries were disciplined and committed to the mission.ARUG members have to consolidate this heritage and build upon it. The lifestyle of somereligious persons displays luxury and laxity, which do not edify other Christians”, he stated. In conclusion, he said to survive 50 years, testify to the relevance of ARUG, and urged membersto imitate the commitment, passion, and self-discipline of the pioneers to help arrest thedeclining Catholic population in the country.