The Word Of God

The President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference, Most Rev Joseph Osei-Bonsu, and the Moderator of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rev Prof Emmanuel Martey, do not suffer fools gladly. When the history of the church's responsibilities towards the molding of a decent society in which graft plays an insignificant role comes to be composed, their names would be inscribed in gold and the literature would remain indelible for posterity.

They have exhibited unusual resilience in the face of attacks from attack dogs of political parties. Theirs have been an incessant condemnation of deliberate and reckless management of the resources of the nation in a manner which has earned them further deference among Ghanaians of goodwill.

While some clergymen have shied away from championing the cause of their flocks, apprehensive of the repercussions of their actions at the hands of mischievous elements, these men, alongside Pastor Mensa Otabil and some others, have braved the storm of indecencies and verbal obscenities by calling a spade a spade, regardless of those whose oxen are gored.

It is no longer acceptable and appropriate to assert, as some have done erroneously, that the church has shirked its responsibility as demanded by Jesus Christ.

In today's edition the message of the President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference at Easter appears on one of the pages. It is about the negative developments which have gained currency in the country in recent times—corruption, the fanning of ethnocentric sentiments for the sake of political expediencies among others, and the need to pull the brakes over the aberrations.

When the non-existent religious disharmony subject was put out on the public domain recently by some politicians, the Moderator led the charge against the engineers of the oddity. The barrage of insults which he endured set him apart from others: he was not cowed but rather strengthened in his resolve to soldier on.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference President's lamentation in respect of the moral decadence is important at this time.  It is the disregard for which has resulted in the unusual spate of graft by those holding important positions of trust. Such persons, in politics, the media, law enforcement, judiciary, the church, as the Bishop noted, are responsible for the mess in which the country finds itself today.

Of those responsible for the sorry state of the country, politicians wielding state power have proven to be the worst culprits.

As observed by the Bishop, as Ghanaians, we should close our ranks in a common bid to move the country forward. We could not agree more with this position.

Let us uphold the tenets of Christianity as thought by Jesus Christ during this Easter and beyond by avoiding the many immoralities, including corruption, which have reduced us to the state we are today.