Bishop Abadamloora Interred

Bishop Lucas Abadamloora

The mortal remains of the late Bishop Lucas Abadamloora have been laid to rest inside the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Bolgatanga, after a funeral mass which was attended by hundreds of Catholics and non Catholics from across the country.

The late Bishop Lucas Abadamloora, who died on December 23, 2009 at the age of 71, was the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference and the Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga dioceses of the Catholic Church.

The late Bishop Abadamloora was born in 1938, and began his basic education in 1948, at the St. Paul's Primary Boarding School then in Navrongo. In Navrongo, he attended the St. Mary's Middle School where he did two more years of academic work before gaining admission into St. Charles Minor Seminary in Tamale to do his Ordinary Level Certificate in 1960.

In Tamale, the late Bishop Abadamloora attended the Government Secondary School for his Advanced level certificate. In August 1968, the late Bishop was ordained a Priest at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral in Navrongo by Bishop Gerard Bertrand.

In 1989, Bishop Abadamloora was asked to come back home from the St. Victor's Major Seminary by Right Reverend Rudolph Akanlu to pick up the position of the Cathedral Administrator of the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows, Navrongo.

On March 30 1994, he was nominated to succeed Right Reverend Rudolph Akanlu who had to resign as the Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese because he was not well.

Dignitaries that attended the funeral mass of one of the great sons of the Upper East region included the President of the Pontifical Commission on Justice and Peace in Rome, His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Reverend Leon B. Kalenga, the main celebrant of the funeral mass and also the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, Most Reverend Philip Naameh.

The Catholic Bishop of Wa, Bishop Paul Bemile, mentioned the late Bishop as one of the key people who over the years worked hard toward the restoration of lasting peace to Bawku, calling on the people of the troubled area to endeavour to live in peace and maintain unity and stability in the area as their tribute to the late Bishop Lucas Abadamloora.

Most Reverend Philip Naameh, Metropolitan Arch-Bishop of Tamale, who led the mass, recounted the lofty plans and actions of the late Bishop and said, “He would be remembered for his wonderful counselling and quest for peace for humanity and unity within the Catholic Church”.

Most Reverend Mathew Gyemfi, Catholic Bishop of Sunyani, who read a tribute on behalf of the Catholic Bishops Conference, recalled the enormous contributions of the deceased to the fraternity and the Catholic Church as a whole, saying Bishop Abadamloora worked hard and tirelessly to uplift the image of the Catholic Church in Ghana, adding, “He directed the affairs of four plenary Assemblies of the Conference.”

The Vice-President, John Dramani Mahama, who had to attend the National Democratic Congress' National Delegates' Congress in Tamale, earlier on Friday night, attended a wake-keeping service held for the Bishop.

However, his speech on the day of the burial was read for him by the Upper East Regional Minister, Mark Woyongo.

The Vice President was full of praise for the late Bishop Lucas Abadamloora for his role in the search for peace in the Bawku Traditional Area and peace building efforts in some other areas in the country.

“The late Bishop we are mourning today loved and appreciated peace and as well extended it beyond the boundaries of the church. Government kept watching with keen interest and profound gratitude, his efforts at the peace-building process between the main tribes involved in the conflict in Bawku; Kusasis and Mamprusis.

His role as a leadership in assisting the government in the search for settlement of the conflict in Bawku will always be remembered.”

According to the Vice President, though the conflict has not permanently been settled, the path which has been taken will definitely lead to a successful settlement of the conflict, and the area will once again become the business hub of the Upper East region and the Northern Ghana as a whole.

In June 1994, the late Bishop Lucas Abadamloora was consecrated and made the Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga diocese of the Catholic Church at the Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Cathedral, Navrongo. He was the third Bishop since the creation of the Diocese. Bishop Abadamloora was elected the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference In 2004 and retained the position at a Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference held in Kumasi.

From Ebo Bruce-Quansah, Bolgatanga