140 Years of Roman Catholic Church in Ashanti

The Society for African Missions in Ghana celebrated the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in the Ashanti region. The anniversary also marks the 140th anniversary of the SMA's presence in present-day Ghana. In 1882, Father Auguste Moreau SMA became the first missionary to arrive in this region, where the Dutch SMA later became very active.

This anniversary was celebrated throughout the year with various activities. It concluded this summer with a two-day academic conference in collaboration with the University of Kumasi on the historical and cultural impact of Catholicism on the former Ashanti kingdom in the heart of what is now Ghana. A pilgrimage was also held along the route that Father Moreau took in 1882 from Elmina on the coast to Kumasi inland.

The celebratory year concluded with a thanksgiving service at Saint Paul's Parish in Adrukrum, Kumasi, attended by Bishop Joseph Osei-Bonsu of Kononi-Mampong, who also ordained a new SMA priest. In his homily, the bishop thanked the SMA missionaries for their pioneering work. Father Dennis Senyo Etti, vice-provincial of the Ghanaian SMA province, expressed particular gratitude for the European missionaries—many of whom were Dutch—who left their lives in Europe to serve in Ghana. To mark the 140th anniversary, the SMA opened a new medical center in Akokoaong, near Kumasi.

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• The SMA celebrates 140 years of Catholicism in Ashanti