ARCHBISHOP SARPONG URGES CHURCHES TO FOCUS ON SALVATION (PAGE 21)

Story: George Ernest Asare

The Metropolitan Catholic Archbishop Emeritus of Kumasi, Most Reverend Peter Akwasi Sarpong, has expressed concern about the commercialisation of churches in the country at the expense of the salvation of mankind.
“Instead of preaching to the congregation for them to change their lifestyles and negative attitudes which undermine their Christian faith and principles and winning them for the kingdom of God, pastors have rather become “professionals” in miracles, claiming to heal all kinds of diseases, accusing many others of being witches and wizards and extorting money from them to enrich themselves,” he stressed.
“ By their fruits you should know them. This is because the Christ we follow never accused anyone of being a witch or wizard, and He also never demanded money from people for consultation before healing them, but rather cast out demons from people, preached to them to give them salvation and brought relief to the poor {improving} their lives and standard of living,” he explained.
In an interview with the Daily Graphic in his office at the Catholic Secretariat at Santasi-Anyinam in Kumasi, Archbishop Sarpong pointed out that “ over-commercialisation of the church had now become predominant in Ghana, with some religious leaders taking advantage of the ignorance of their congregation to exploit them.
The interview was meant to seek his opinion on issues pertaining to his principles in life, experience as a religious leader, the challenges that confronted him during his career as a priest, his opinion on the church and politics, as well as his contribution to the socio-economic development of the country since he assumed a leadership position.
Most Rev. Sarpong, who retired from active service barely a month ago, after 38 years of dedicated service to God, noted that the over-exploitation in some churches should now become a matter of concern to opinion leaders in the country, stressing “some people who claim to be religious leaders have now become more interested in using dubious ways to exploit their congregation to amass wealth by not only buying very expensive vehicles for themselves and family members but also building mansions while their members live in abject poverty”.
Expressing concern about the trend of religious activities in the country where the crave for money by some religious leaders is on the ascendancy, Most Rev. Sarpong said it was the ignorance of some Christians that had made it possible for their leaders to milk them dry, while they enjoyed the best of life.
He said one of the biggest challenges as a leader in the Catholic faith was to provide educational and health facilities to communities that lacked them to build the capacity of the youth.
This, he said, was to give them the opportunity to source for quality health care delivery at an affordable cost to enhance productivity and better standard of living.
He said it was also a challenge for him to offer the requisite spiritual fulfilment to the church and expand it.
He said apart from initiating the construction of many basic and second cycle schools, his office also addressed the health problems of many communities through the construction of hospitals and clinics.
“ I come from a rural community where hunting and farming was the order of the day, so I know what extreme poverty and diseases are and their effect on society, hence my initiative to build the capacity of the youth through education, to enable them acquire the requisite employable skills to fend for themselves and their dependants, as well as provide them with health care facilities to address their health problems when necessary”, he explained.
Most Rev. Sarpong also noted that he inherited only one diocese in Kumasi, “ but at the time that I retired, five other dioceses: Konongo-Mampong, Goaso, Sunyani, Obuasi and Techiman- had been added to the Kumasi archdiocese, indicating that the church has grown astronomically”.
He said it was the duty of religious leaders to provide the spiritual needs of their congregation and prepare them for the Kingdom of God and solve their problems and that of their communities as directed by Jesus Christ; they should not exploit them.