By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
President of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana (CMSR-Gh), Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu, is advocating for stronger collaboration among Christian congregations across the country.
Addressing participants at the opening of the 2026 edition of the Biannual Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana (CMSR-Gh), currently underway at the In-Service Training Centre in the Diocese of Wa, under the theme, “Synodal paths to mission sustainability: Walking together in hope,” the President of CMSR-Gh urged ministers of God to regard their different charisms, traditions and apostolates as strengths to forge greater collaboration rather than being a source of division.
“The time has come for us to move beyond simply working alongside one another to genuinely walking together,” she said.
According to her, no single Congregation could adequately respond to all the needs of the present time, and thus urged Consecrated Persons to pool their gifts, experience, personnel and resources.
“No single Congregation can respond adequately to all the needs of our time. But when we bring our gifts, experiences, personnel and resources together, we can accomplish much more,” she reiterated.
Sr. Dr. Hormetowu identified formation, vocation promotion, youth empowerment, safeguarding, ecological justice, healthcare, education, pastoral ministry, social transformation and communication among areas where greater collaboration could be pursued.
She also cited care for elderly and infirm clergy and Consecrated Persons and the sustainable management of resources.
Sr. Dr. Hormetowu said the CMSR-Gh provides a platform for Consecrated Persons to learn from one another, support one another and discern together how best to serve the Church and society.
Wa Diocese welcomes Consecrated Persons.
The Bishop of Wa, Most Rev. Francis Bomansaan (Missionaries of Africa), welcomed the participants to the Diocese, describing them as co-workers in the vineyard of the Lord.
In an address read on his behalf by the Vicar General of the Wa Diocese (Very Rev. Fr. John Kunpiel), Bishop Francis Bomansaan (M. Afr.) expressed appreciation to the Congregations serving in Ghana for their various charisms and contributions to the life of the Church.
He said the gathering was more than a meeting, describing it as an opportunity for renewal, reflection on the prophetic and apostolic role of Consecrated Persons, and stronger collaboration in evangelisation.
“This Biannual Conference, my dear brothers and sisters, is more than a meeting. It is a moment of renewal,” he said.
He said the theme was timely as the Universal Church continues the implementation of the synodal process, describing the gathering as an opportunity for Consecrated Persons to practice “working together, listening together, discerning together, and acting together.”
He urged participants to use the days in Wa to listen deeply to God and to one another and return to their communities with renewed zeal, fresh vision and stronger bonds of fraternity.
Mission should outlive those who lead it.
In a keynote address, Franciscan Catholic priest and academic affairs, Dr. Joseph Kwame Blay challenged the Major Superiors to look beyond maintaining existing projects and structures and consider how the mission of the Church can continue after the present generation of leaders is gone.
He argued that the schools, hospitals, social care institutions and church buildings established by Religious Institutes are not the mission itself but means through which the Church participates in Christ’s mission.
“The mission belongs to Christ. We are stewards, collaborators and servants of a mission that precedes us and will outlive us,” he said.
Fr. Blay said sustainable mission requires passing on faith, charism, competence, responsibility, and mission from one generation to the next.
“A mission can have money and still be unsustainable. It can have buildings and still be unsustainable. It can have vocations and still be unsustainable,” he said. He identified spiritual, vocational, leadership, institutional, charismatic, financial, and material dimensions of sustainability and urged Religious Institutes to deliberately prepare successors.
He said a leadership system dependent on one strong individual was fragile and called for a culture that develops people, shares responsibility and prepares the next generation.
“The real test of a missionary is not only what happens while he or she is present, but what remains when he or she is gone,” he said.
From individual projects to shared mission
Fr. Blay also called for a shift from what he described as an ego-centred approach to mission towards a Christ-centred and collaborative approach.
He urged Religious Institutes to build local responsibility, invest in indigenous vocations, develop succession plans, strengthen networks among Congregations and explore sustainable economic models without allowing financial considerations to overshadow the mission.
He also called for stronger cooperation between Religious Institutes and dioceses, arguing that both have complementary roles in sustaining the mission of the Church.
“The question, therefore, should not be: Who owns the mission? But: How can the bishop, diocesan clergy, religious and lay faithful together sustain Christ’s mission entrusted to this local Church?” he said.
According to him, the future of mission depends on moving from “mission done for people” to “mission done with people”.
The CMSR-Gh assembly continues in Wa until October 10, with participants expected to use the gathering for prayer, dialogue, and discernment on the challenges and opportunities facing Consecrated Life and its contribution to the Church in Ghana.
The gathering brings together leaders of Religious Institutes, Consecrated Persons, and other collaborators for prayer, reflection, dialogue, and discernment on matters affecting Consecrated Life and its service to the Church in Ghana.
