NEW PASTORAL ASSIGNMENT

Bishop Mark O’Connell is pleased to announce the following pastoral assignment:

Father Anthony Boahen Nketiah

Father Anthony Boahen Nketiah has been named sacramental minister of St. Edward the Confessor Church in Clifton Park and St. Mary’s Church, Crescent, effective Nov. 1.

Welcome, Father Anthony!

I am Reverend Father Anthony Boahen Nketiah, the last born of the seven children of my parents. I come from Ghana in West Africa. I was born and brought up at Praaso, near Konongo in the Ashanti Region, the forest belt of Ghana, where I had my elementary and middle-school education.

At the age of 18, I moved to Kumasi, the garden city of Ghana, where I had my minor seminary education. After graduating with ordinary and advanced levels in accounting and geography, I moved to Accra, the capital of Ghana, to pursue my major seminary education, with one year of spirituality and two years of philosophy. Then, my Bishop in Ghana sent me to Rome, Italy, for theological studies. In August 1999, I traveled to Rome and that was a tremendous experience in my life. The culture, weather, as well as the food, and even the clothes to put on at certain times of the year, were all changed. I was born and brought up in a completely different environment where there are only two major seasons: wet and dry and the temperature is always like summer. But at that point, I had to struggle with the cold and sometimes snow.

I was raised speaking British English and I had to put everything aside and learn the Italian language for my theological studies. God was on my side as always, and by His grace, I went through successfully. After my theological studies, I went back to Ghana to be ordained as a deacon and later as a priest.

In 2012, I was on a visit to the United States and my Bishop from Ghana asked me to find a link here to stay so that I may have some studies in the future. Thanks to God and to the Very Reverend Father Frank Lioi in Auburn who made arrangements to get me connected to the Diocese of Rochester.

I know the Lord called me to become a priest to work for the salvation of my soul and the souls of others be saved as well. May His grace be upon us to have a share in Him here and in eternity. Amen.