Most Rev. Attakruh consecrated as Catholic Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi
A new Catholic Bishop of Sekondi-Takoradi, the Most Rev. John Baptist Attakruh, has been consecrated to assume full duties.
At a consecration mass held at the Star of the Sea Cathedral in Takoradi, the new Bishop appeared before the consecrating Bishops and affirmed his commitment to deliver on the mandate assigned him by the Catholic Church.
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It was followed by prayers of the Saints and the laying of hands by the consecrating Bishops to signifying his receipt of the Holy Orders to become a Bishop to discharge his duties.
The Most Rev. Attakruh accepted the charges before the congregation and pledged to deliver on his mandate to serve the people of God and humanity as a whole.
The Principal Consecrating Bishop was the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, the Most Rev. Henryk Mieczyslaw Jagodzinki, supported by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops Conference, the Most Rev. Philip Naameh, and the Archbishop of Accra, the Most Rev. John Bonaventure Kwofie.
Homily
In a homily, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, the Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, described the new Bishop as a gift to the people of Sekondi-Takoradi.
He, therefore, asked the people to accept and pray for him. so that the Most Rev. Attakruh would successfully discharge his duties in serving humanity.
He reminded the new Bishop that satan would use various ways and means to distract him from his assignment, but he should be assured that God knew he was capable of undertaking the assignment, hence his call, just as God had called Jeremiah to be a gift and prophet to the nations.
The Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle said God did not give his apostles the spirit of timidity and asked the new Bishop to go out to strengthen his people, priests under him and the nation as a whole.
Background
The Catholic Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi was carved of the Cape Coast Diocese in 1969, with the Most Rev. Joseph Amihere Essuah as its first Bishop.
The Most Rev. Attakruh is taking over from the Most Rev. Kwofie, who is the current Archbishop of Accra.
On July 31, 2020, the Most Rev. Attakruh was nominated as the Apostolic Administrator of the Sekondi-Takoradi Diocese, with all the rights and faculties of a Local Ordinary, a position he held until his appointment as the new Bishop of the diocese on June 24, 2021, on the Solemnity of the Nativity of St John the Baptist.
Bishop Attakruh
The Most Rev. Attakruh was ordained into the priesthood for the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi on July 30, 1989.
His first appointment was to the Immaculate Conception Parish as Assistant Priest from 1989 to 1991 and then as Vice-Rector of the St Mary's Minor Seminary in Apowa in the Western Region.
At the same time, he was a tutor and Chaplain at St Mary's Boys' Senior High School and Director of Vocations of the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi.
From 1992 to 1995, he studied at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of St Anselm in Rome, where he obtained a Licentiate in Sacred Liturgy.
On his return to Ghana, he was appointed Director of the St Kizito Pastoral and Catechetical Centre at Apowa and Director of Sacred Liturgy of the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi from 1996 to 1998.
From 1998 to 2004, he was appointed formator and lecturer at the St Peter's Regional Seminary, Cape Coast, where he taught Sacred Liturgy and Sacramental Theology.
From 2004 to 2014, he undertook a sabbatical and study leave. During that period, he studied at the St John's University, New York, USA, where he obtained a Master of Science in Educational Administration and Supervision of Instruction.
He also served in the Diocese of Rockville Center, New York, as Priest-Chaplain of the Brookhaven Memorial Hospital and Medical Center, Patchogue, and as weekend Associate at the St John the Baptist Church in Wading, New York.
In 2015, the Most Rev. Attakruh was appointed Co-ordinator of the First Synod of the Diocese of Sekondi-Takoradi by the Most Rev. Kwofie, the then Bishop of the diocese.