Families are under threat in the name of modernity – Bishop Bemile
The Most Reverend Bishop Paul Bemile, the Catholic Bishop of Wa, has stated that most families in Ghana are seriously under threat all in the name of modernization.
He said eating and praying together as well as the fear and love of God which used to be some characteristics of families were gradually being replaced with the pursuit of wealth and work.
“Many families are no longer families because parents busy themselves working hard to earn more money and increase their wealth with some resorting to unchristian means to acquire their wealth,” Bishop Bemile lamented.
Bishop Bemile was speaking during the 33rd National Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Laity Council held at the Saint Andrew’s Catholic Church in Wa on Friday.
It was on the theme: “The Domestic Church as an Agent of Evangelization”.
Bishop Bemile said the Ghanaian was known to be religious, honest, hospitable, peaceful, lover of life and truth and above all feared God but lamented that all most of hese cherished values had been thrown to the dogs.
He said in the past Christian doctrines were manifested in schools, colleges, hospitals and clinics, noting that today, many of these institutions were handicapped in the areas of evangelization because of unfavourable policies which tended to make religion a private matter.
Bishop Bemile said homosexuality and lesbianism which every well intentioned Ghanaian used to frown upon and considered European was today being promoted and practiced by people who claimed to be believers in God.
Virginity and fidelity, one time cherished values, were traded in for pleasure, variety and money despite the spread of killer diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis B and C.
The Bishop also pointed out that the tendency to get rich quick by the youth had given birth to increasing vices such as ‘sakawa,’ armed robbery, drug peddling and sex trade.
Bishop Bemile noted that unless Christians dug deep to uncover the roots of the lost family life, it would not flourish as much as it should.
According to him, the family in its limited form and extended form was the nucleus of Ghanaian life and what took place in the family formed the subconscious of the Ghanaian.
Alhaji Issahaku Salia, Upper West Regional Minister, said the church and the state both had complementary roles to play towards the political, social, economic and moral upbringing of its citizenry.
Alhaji Salia commended the Catholic Church for using the National Plenary Assembly as a platform to discuss issues pertaining to their faith and morals of its members, describing it as a step in the right direction.
He stated with certainty that the Catholic Church in the Region had demonstrated the theme of evangelization through its massive support in the area of education, health and agriculture among others.
He said the violence that took place in some senior high schools in the region was too sad to recall and urged the church to join hands in calling on parents to take up the responsibility of advising their wards against such violent acts in schools.
He said the future of the country would be jeopardised if they did not stem the tide of indiscipline among the youth.
Source: GNA