Archbishop of Accra: Formation is a shared responsibility

The Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra, Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, says the correct and total formation of priests must be a shared responsibility of parents, seminarians themselves and the Church as a whole.

He noted that “The challenges are not to be underrated, but they are to be kept in sight and players, parents and guardians and society, are also to be kept on their toes for the good of the subject, the child or the student and for the greater good of the society and Church as a whole.”

He said, “it is the duty and the primary responsibility of parents to form or educate seminarians, while the seminarian himself has the onerous responsibility to be involved and committed to his own formation if he wants to become truly what God the Father has willed.”

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle was delivering a keynote address on the theme: “Sixty Years of Priestly Formation for the Church in Ghana and the Universal Church-A Shared Responsibility.” This was at St. Peter’s Catholic Seminary, Pedu in the Cape Coast, this week. The gathering was one of the activities marking the 60th national independence anniversary of Ghana and the 12th Theology week of the seminary.

The Archbishop noted that parents are the ones who literally start the task of educating the seminarian and they are to be complemented by other agents namely society, the state, Church or the religious leadership.

The prelate of Accra said that all were endowed by the Holy Spirit to nurture vocations especially to the holy priesthood, religious life as well as the calling to married life. 

“As a shared responsibility, it begins with praying to the Lord of the harvest to send labourers into his vineyard. Then it follows with calling people and nurturing them to follow Christ in the priesthood and religious life.”

(Damian Avevor in Accra, Ghana)

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