Bishop Agyenta urges Catholic Church to pray for resolution of Bawku conflict

Most Reverend Alfred Agyenta, the Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Catholic Diocese, has called on the Catholic Church to seek God’s intervention for a lasting resolution to the protracted Bawku chieftaincy conflict.

He said the security situation in Bawku, in recent times, had worsened and many people had been killed or injured, compelling essential service providers to flee the area, while activities, including church services, had been affected.

“Recently, I went to St. Anthony of Padua to celebrate Christmas morning Mass and we had to move to a technical school outside the town because people are afraid to gather and some churches have even closed,” he said.

He called on the Catholic community especially the priests and religious leaders to pray and continue to preach peace and unity, to ensure God’s intervention for a lasting resolution of the Bawku conflict and others.

Bishop Agyenta made the call in a sermon, at the celebration of this year’s Chrism Mass at Our Lady of Seven Sorrows Minor Basilica in Navrongo.

Chrism Mass is one of the solemn and important liturgies celebrated each year on the last Wednesday before Easter among many Christians, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.

It is an occasion where the oils for all the Sacraments, including Chrism oil of the Catechumens and oil of the Sick, are blessed in each diocese and used throughout the liturgical year.

It also sets the tone for observance of the Holy week, including Holy Thursday (washing of the feet), Good Friday, Easter Virgil and Easter Sunday and affords the priests an opportunity to converge at one point to renew their vows.

Most Reverend Agyenta noted that it was refreshing that the people of Doba and Kandiga had chosen the path of peace and commended all the stakeholders, including the traditional authorities and the religious leaders, for roles played to achieve the success, saying the same strategies could be used to resolve the Bawku conflict.