Rev. John Attakruh ordained 5th Catholic Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi
Most Rev. John Baptist Attakruh has been ordained and installed as the fifth Catholic Bishop of the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese at the Our Lady Star of the Cathedral in Takoradi.
As part of the exercise, the hands of the new Bishop was washed with crimson oil and given the Book of Gospels with a charge to “Receive the Gospel and preach the word of God with unflinching patience and sound teaching.”
Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Rev. Henryk M. Jagodzinski, Co-Celebrant, who officiated the ceremony, further presented the new Bishop with a ring, a mitre and pastoral staff, as symbols of his bishopric and prayed for God’s guidance and blessings for him.
The solemn ceremony attracted the cream of the clergy including the Co-Consecrator, Most Rev Philip Naameh, Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, and President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra and other members of the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference.
In his homily, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, Most Rev Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, told Bishop Attakruh about the admonishment God gave to Jeremiah at the start of his prophetic mission and assured him that “you should not be afraid.”
He said, every priest or aBishopis agift to himself, God, the church, the nation and humanity.
“God told Jeremiah. I know you before you were formed in the womb and consecrated as a priest to nations. I, called you, don’t be afraid. “Behold, I will put my words in your mouth.That’s the mystery of the prophetic mission of God.” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle added.
Quoting from Timothy, he urged the new Bishop to be a fearless apostle, working with the unfathomable gift from God, power of the Holy Spirit, for the sake of humanity and laying his hands on the people.
Again, he referred Most Rev Attakruh to his Guardian Saint, John the Baptist and reminded him that, just as the apostle was beheaded, he the Bishop, must bear in mind the consequences of his ministry.
Most Rev Attakruh assumed the bishopric, after Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie, was transferred to Accra diocese.
On June 24, the Chargé d’Affaires at the Apostolic Nunciature in Accra, Rev. Msgr. Maher Chammas, in a press communique, reported that His Holiness Pope Francis had appointed Rev Monsignor Attakruh, as the new Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi.
The new Bishop was nominated on July 31, 2020, as the Apostolic Administrator of Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese with all the rights and faculties of a Local Ordinary, a position he held until his present appointment.
Born on 13 October 13, 1957, at Juabo in the Amenfi Central District of the Western Region in Ghana, Most Rev. Attakruh was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi on July 30, 1989.
He attended the Institut de Philosphie Saint Pierre Canisius in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, for his studies in Philosophy from 1982 to 1985.
From 1992 to 1995, he studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of St. Anselm in Rome where he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Liturgy from 2004 to 2014.
FROM CLEMENT ADZEI BOYE, TAKORADI