Self-reliance, key to sustainable dev't-Dr Fodwor

Accra, April 27 GNA - Sir Dr Kwame Donkoh Fodwor, an Eminent Ghanaian Economist, has urged the Catholic church in Ghana to be self-reliant to enable it interact effectively with the rest of the Universal Church in the spirit of true interdependence towards development.

He said the Church should be, "one that is able and willing to receive but does not depend on others for its very survival." Dr Fodwor was speaking at the "Ninth Biennial Marshall-Moreau-Murat Memorial" lectures in Accra on Wednesday, under the auspices of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall.

The lectures were on the theme: "Harnessing resources for the sustainable development of a self -reliant church in Ghana". He said the Church must not only discharge its routine pastoral duties but it should also seek to provide the economic and personal needs of both the clergy and laity.

Dr Fodwor also called on the Church to initiate structures and provide resources that could be suitably adapted to meet the challenges of evangelism both for the present and the future generation. Dr Fodwor, who is also Chairman of the Catholic University Council, re-emphasised that formal education could result in increased real income for the people and inspire the congregation to willingly contribute to the Church.

He deplored the poor educational facilities in the rural areas where the bulk of the population lived and asked the Church work to reverse the trend.

Dr Fodwor said: "We must recognise that self-reliance cannot be achieved unless we learn to use judiciously the limited resources that are available to us. We need to be simple and be prepared to share what we have with others. Accountability and transparency should be our watch words".

He is the first layperson in the Catholic Church in Ghana to deliver a talk at a Marshall-Moreau-Murat Memorial lecture since its inception in 1989, which had most of the time, been done by the clergy.

The Marshall-Moreau-Murat lectures were instituted in 1989 by the Noble Order of the Knights of Marshall in memory of the late Sir James Marshall, a Scotsman who served as Chief Justice in the then Gold Coast, after whom the noble order was named.

He was an outstanding Catholic who tirelessly championed the activities of the church in the Gold Coast after nearly 250 years of the breakdown of the first Catholic Church established in the colony.