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Tag: Catholic Bishop

  • 3 Ghanaian Catholic Bishops to resign this year

    3 Ghanaian Catholic Bishops to resign this year

    At least three Ghanaian Catholic Bishops are expected to resign this year.

    The resignation of the prominent Ghanaian Catholic Bishops is in line with the dictates of the Catholic Church as they turn 75 years this year.

    These Bishops who have been serving the Church for decades are mandated by the Canon Law of the Catholic Church to resign their position through letters presented to the head of the Church, the Pope, for consideration.

    “Diocesan Bishop who has completed the seventy-fifth year of age is requested to present his resignation from office to the Supreme Pontiff, who will make provision after he has examined all the circumstances,” the Canon Law [Can. 401 §1.] of the Catholic Church stipulates.

    According to a January 2023 report by Catholic Trends, “the oldest crop of Bishops/Archbishops who have served the church dutifully and nearing their period of retirement are Most Rev. Philip Naameh of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale (He will be 75 years in September 2023) Most Rev. Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong Diocese ( He was 75 years in February 2023) and Most Rev. Gabriel Akwasi Ababio Mante, Bishop of Jasikan Diocese (He will be 76 years old in July 2023).”

    Meanwhile, Most Rev. Gabriel Akwasi Ababio Mante, Bishop of the Jasikan Diocese, has taken ill, and the Church has called on the faithful to remember him in their prayers.

    In May 2020, The Bishops, Archbishop Philip Naameh, Bishop Gabriel Mantey, Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu, and Bishop Anthony Adanuty, marked 25 years in their ministry.

  • Eritrea arrests Catholic bishop – sources

    A Catholic bishop was detained by Eritrean security officials at Asmara International Airport on Saturday morning after arriving from Europe, according to sources inside and outside the country.

    The government has made no remark on Bishop Abune Fikremariam Hagos’ arrest, despite the fact that he was ordained as the first bishop of Segheneity in southern Eritrea in 2012.

    The Catholic Church has asked the relevant government authorities for the bishop’s whereabouts. The authorities are said to have informed the church that it was “holding” the prelate but did not disclose where or why he was detained.

    Eritrean forces had earlier arrested Abba Mihretab Stefanos, the parish priest of St Michael’s church in Segheneity last Tuesday, sources said.

    Another priest, Abba Abraham from the Capuchin Society, was reportedly also detained in Teseney town.

    The reasons behind the detention of the bishop and the two priests are unknown.

    It comes amid recent intensified military mobilisation by the government, which is hunting draft dodgers to join the war in neighbouring Ethiopia. The Eritrean government has sent troops to help Ethiopia against forces from its northern Tigray region bordering Eritrea.

    Recently, there has been growing public discontent over Eritrea’s involvement in the conflict.

    The Catholic bishops have repeatedly called on the Eritrean government to nurture an inclusive democracy and end authoritarian behaviour. The government has been unhappy with the Catholic Church’s calls for political reform.

    In 2019, the authorities shut Catholic-run schools and hospitals, saying they were imposing regulations that stipulate that religious bodies cannot run such institutions.

    Catholics make up about 4% of Eritrea’s population. The church is one of only four religious groups allowed to operate in Eritrea, along with the Eritrean Orthodox, Evangelical Lutheran, and Sunni Islam groups.

    The country, led by President Isaias Afwerki for the past 30 years, does not have any functioning constitution and has never held a national election.

     

  • ISWAP terrorists responsible for Catholic Church attack Nigerian Government

    The Nigerian government has said the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād is responsible for the attack on St. Francis Catholic Church, Owo, Ondo State.

    The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola disclosed this on Thursday while briefing State House Correspondents after the National Security Council meeting in Abuja.

    Gunmen had on Sunday attacked the church located on Owa-Luwa Street in Owo, the hometown of the State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, leaving many parishioners dead and several others injured.

    Aregbesola said that security agencies, particularly the police, had been directed to apprehend the terrorists.

    The minister equally noted that the attack had no ethnic-religious connection, as he asserted ISWAP activity was unrelated to any religious doctrines.

    The minister stated that the council was also worried about killings in the name of blasphemy and had directed the security agencies to go after perpetrators of both incidents that occurred in Sokoto State and Abuja recently.

    He added that enough security measures have been put in place ahead of the Ekiti State gubernatorial election taking place on June 18, 2022.

    SaharaReporters had earlier reported that ISWAP claimed responsibility for an attack on Kabba as the terror group kept moving towards the Southern part of Nigeria.

    The community is about 95 kilometres and less than two hours to Owo in Ondo State, where over 50 worshippers were recently killed during an attack by gunmen on St Francis Catholic Church.

    Several videos on social media had showed victims being killed and lying on the church floor in the pool of their own blood.

    An eyewitness said that the terrorists were throwing “bombs and shooting” at the same time.

    He said about 25 persons were taken to the hospital, while about 50 people are feared dead.

    According to him, when the gunmen stormed the church, they shot many people in the leg, and others at different parts of the body.

    Source: saharareporters.com