Cardinal describes mission need and interfaith amity in Ghana

Want to know about the missions? Talk to Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana.

He was in the Albany Diocese recently to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the ordination of Rev. Kofi Ntsiful-Amissah, pastor of the Black Apostolate and Sacred Heart Church in Albany. The two are childhood friends.

During his visit, Cardinal Turkson spoke to The Evangelist about Africa and how his parishioners perceive America.

Challenges

The Church in Ghana faces many challenges, he said, such as confronting the issue of self-reliance. As a mission area, the Church in Ghana is still dependent on the Vatican and Catholics in other countries for basic needs.

"We have many priests and nuns," Cardinal Turkson explained. "But for infrastructure, [we] have to rely on outside help. We need to develop an amount of self-reliance, so that this need for help is not perpetual. We recognize that we are at that stage now that is key to growth and maturity as a local Church."

Reaching that goal, he added, means developing income-generating ventures, building more hospitals and schools, and evangelizing.

Slave trade

Christianity came to the small African country on the Atlantic coast with European imperialists who constructed large "castles" that became hubs of trade in gold and in slaves.

Through the decades, different powers held sway in these castles, Cardinal Turkson said, and instilled their own flavor of Christianity: first, the Portuguese Catholics, then the Dutch Calvinists, followed by the British Anglicans.

Today, the influence of Islam is "trickling down through the desert," he noted.

Interfaith mix

Sixty-three percent of Ghanaians are Christian; 16 percent are Muslims; and 21 percent hold other beliefs. It is very common, the cardinal explained, for the average Ghanaian home to have members belonging to multiple faiths.

Relations among the many religious groups have been "largely peaceful so far," he said.

As an ecumenist, a member of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and a member of the Methodist-Catholic Dialogue, Cardinal Turkson hopes to "harness potentialities for peace."

Views of U.S.

Cardinal Turkson said that Ghanaians' perceptions of the United States and its role in the world are mixed. Certain circles are critical of President George W. Bush and his policies, while others are "deeply sympathetic towards Bush and [British Prime Minister Tony] Blair, who are seen as fighting the fight for the whole world."

Many Ghanaians have never been exposed to the average American, and most will "make a distinction between the government and its people," he said.

"Ghana is not too well known in the United States," Cardinal Turkson said. "I hope people will learn about our culture, our people and their struggle in the area of development."

(Cardinal Turkson was ordained in 1975 and appointed Archbishop of Cape Coast in 1992. He was elevated to cardinal a year ago.)

(10/21/04)