Laity in Ghana Encouraged to Actively Evangelize

CANAA || By Damian Avevor, Ghana || 14 March 2016

Bishop Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD of Ho Diocese in the Volta Region, Ghana, has urged the laity in the country not to be afraid to engage themselves in the evangelizing mission of the Church.

“We need to witness more proactivity of the laity in impressing upon civil society to embrace the Gospel values in policies and guidelines,” the Bishop said during the opening of the 38^th Plenary Assembly of the National Catholic Laity Council (NCLC).

He reminded the laity that the mandate of Jesus to evangelize is not limited only to a few, neither is it meant only for those who embrace the missionary vocation.

The Bishop said the Second Vatican Council, particularly Lumen Gentium and Gaudium Es Spes teach a lot about the place and the role of the laity in the evangelizing mission of the Church.

“The post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation of St. Pope John Paul II, - Christifideles Laici of December 30, 1988 remains a landmark ecclesial document on the participation of the laity in the mission of the Church,” Bishop Fianu said.

He entreated the laity in Ghana to be at the forefront of defending the Christian values that Christian education teaches them, urging them to constantly deliberate on how they could make their presence felt in the fibre of the Ghanaian society.

Father Michael Awuah-Ansah, Executive Secretary of the Department of Pastoral Ministry and Evangelization at the National Catholic Secretariat in Accra, echoed Bishop Fianu’s message, asking the laity to take up the task of evangelization of the Church.

Father Awuah-Ansah appealed to the Church leadership to frequently organize on-going formation programmes for the lay faithful and encouraged the laity to become true agents of evangelization for the Church, further entreating them to let their deeds lead them to reconciliation, forgiveness and Renewal.

The NCLC plenary took place in Ho on March 11 under the theme: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations: Participation of the laity in the Apostolate of the Chrch.