Bishop Lodonu clocks 40 years as Bishop
Ho, June 24, GNA - Right Reverend Francis Kofi Anani Lodonu, Bishop of Ho Diocese of the Catholic Church, will clock 40 years as Bishop on June 29, 2013.
He was born 76 years ago on November 19, 1937, at Gbi-Atabu in the Hohoe Municipal area, in the Volta Region.
Bishop Lodonu was ordained as priest on May 18, 1964, elected as Bishop on May 14, 1973 and on June 29, 1973 was ordained Bishop by the late Pope Paul VI in Rome.
A letter from the Office of the Vicar-General of the Catholic Diocese of Ho, signed by Monsignor Anthony Kornu, Vicar-General, copied to the GNA, indicated that Bishop Lodonu's Episcopal Ordination will be celebrated at the Saint Francis Parish, Ho Kpeleve, near the Police Training school on June 29, 2013 at 0930 hours.
'It is, however, expected that presentations on this day, especially those in cash, will assist in completing the Bishop's retirement home, as well as furnish it,' the letter said.
Profile of Bishop Lodonu:
Bishop Lodonu was the 12th son of Mr Emmanuel Koku Allala-Lodonu, a distinguished Teacher Catechist of Gbi-Atabu, who held the fort when the German Missionaries were deported and was awarded the Papal Merente in 1955.
Bishop Lodonu's mother was Madam Akosua Lodonu (nee Tenge) of Alavanyo Agorxoe.
Education
Bishop Lodonu attended Elementary School at Gbi-Atabu Roman Catholic School from 1944 to 1947 and proceeded to the Roman Catholic Boys' School at Gbi-Bla from class five to class six from 1948-1949, continuing to the R.C. Boys' Middle School form 1-4, from 1950 to 1953.
He was awarded a prize for excelling in Religious Knowledge in the Keta Diocesan Middle School Examination in 1953.
Bishop Lodonu had his Secondary school education at Bishop Herman College, Kpando, from 1954-1957, and went on to Saint Peters Regional Seminary, Cape Coast, from 1958 to 1964, where he studied Philosophy and Theology.
He studied at the University College of Cork, Ireland, from September 1965 to September 1968, and obtained Bachelor of Arts (B.A) General Degree in Geography, Sociology and History, and also Latin as a non-examinable subject in that University.
Appointments
From September 1968 to September 1970, Bishop Lododnu was Assistant Headmaster and Chaplain at Saint Paul Secondary School, Viepe-Aflao (Denu).
From 1970 to 1972 he was Vice Rector of Saint Mary's Minor Seminary, Lolobi, and Vicar General of Keta Diocese.
From 1972 to 1973, he became Rector and Headmaster of Saint Mary's Seminary Secondary School, and the Vicar General of the Diocese.
Positions and Responsibilities
For the four decades spanning the 1970s to date, Bishop Lodonu took up uncountable important assignments within the Church both in Ghana, Africa and the world in general.
In 1978, he was appointed member of a Committee by government to help bring peace between the people of Peki and Awudome in the Volta Region.
He has since 1980 been involved in trying to settle the dispute between the Alavanyos and the Nkonyas, and in June 2004, was officially appointed to be the vice-chairman of the Mediation Committee to bring peace between the two traditional areas. He is a member of the National Peace Council.
Bishop Lodonu was awarded the 'Order of The Volta' (Companion by government on July 1, 2006 for distinguishing himself in the Christian Religion.
Character:
Bishop Lodonu is known to be naturally kind, gentle, easy to approach and has a listening or attentive ear for everybody irrespective of rank or status.
He is especially known for his honesty and frankness, if he is displeased, he makes it known straight away and thereafter forgets about it.
Similarly he praises highly whoever impresses him and calls a spade a spade and does not follow the majority opinion if he thinks this is wrong.
Bishop Lodonu offers educational opportunities, especially to young people based on his conviction that Christianity and sound education are two pillars on which the future of the youth could be built for a better future.
Innovations:
In 2007, Bishop Lodonu introduced a new pastoral concept for newly ordained priests who were appointed as associate pastors to quasi-parish stations.The newly ordained priests undertook intensive pasrtoral care of one station or a cluster of stations with the support of the parish priest.
The parish priests as well as a team of Diocesan coordinators and a station pastoral council were the three main facilitators of the model.
Bishop Lodonu is an ardent devotee of Blessed Virgin Mary and the Sacred Heart and his famous prayer is Anima Christi.
His patron saints are Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Clare and Bishop Lodonu, therefore, loves nature, plants, flowers, birds and domestic animals, which passion is evident in and around his residence at 'Assisikofe' at the outskirts of Ho at on the Ho-Nyive road.
GNA