Thousands of Catholics all over the Catholic Diocese
of Keta-Akatsi and beyond will be converging at the St. Anthony of Padua
Catholic Church at Three-Town, Denu in the Volta Region for a the celebration
of the125 years of Catholicism and 105 years of the dedication of first Church
building.
The one-year Anniversary was launched last year Sunday
June 11, 2017 at a special ceremony at the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church
under the theme: Enter His gates with
thanksgiving, His Courts with Songs of Praises (Ps. 100:4).
The Church established on April 1, 1893, has organised a series of
activities to mark the Anniversary including Health Walk and Talk, Youth Quiz
Competition, Variety and Socialization activities, Skills Training in Catering
for the Youth, Cultural Festival, Retreat and Pilgrimage, Clean up exercises,
Visit to the sick and the needy, Tree planting exercise, Home coming for
Priest, Religious from the Parish, Clean-up and a Jubilee Mass presided
over by the Vicar General of the
Keta-Akatsi Diocese, Rev. Msgr. Peter Huletey and Memorial Mass for the Clergy
and lay faithful, presided over by Most Rev. Anthony Adanuty, Bishop Emeritus
of Keta-Akatsi.
A durbar of Chiefs and people of the Three Town
Communities-Denu, Hedzranawo and
Adafienu-will be held on Saturday, June 16 and climaxed the year-long
activities the next day June 17 with a Pontifical Thanksgiving Mass to be
presided over by Most Rev. Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, SVDBishop of Keta-Akatsi.
Faith Deepening
In an interview, Mr. CephasAfornu, Vice Chairman of
the Anniversary Planning Committee, lamented that the faithful had not deepened
their faith as witnessed during the early days of the faith as some are still
involved in multiple allegiance ending up in misconstruing the faith in Christ with
other traditional believes.
He also observed that the very spiritual wounds that
the missionaries came to heal for the people of the Three-Town communities is
still bleeding and need to be diagnosed. He recalled that Catholic Schools were
established to be pacesetters for spiritual, moral and disciplinary issues of
the youth.
He questioned the Clergy, the religious, pastoral
care givers, educationist and the lay faithful to cross-examine how much they
fare and so re-visit their pastoral approach, vision and focus, stating that
the fear and all forms of enslavement that entangle the faithful and also make
them live the Christian life in freedom. By this we would hold high the values
with which the missionaries lay the foundations of the Church.
He, therefore, called on pastoral care givers to
accept the fact that it is time for the Parish to re-examine the evangelisation
mission of the Church by going back to the roots of its foundation as well as
repackage the pastoral activities especially the issues about formation of the
lay faithful, of the Parish, Spirituality and Self-reliance.
Mr. Afornu stated that the time has come for the
Parish to look into building up its own resource in view of its continued
mission of evangelization. He called on the church to organize a parish
pastoral congress to have a concrete and workable pastoral plan to guide the
future of the Church.
He also suggested a strategic plan for the Church to
make her a model Church worthy of emulation. He also suggested that as a parish
of St Anthony of Padua, the Spirituality of St. Anthony should be part of the
way of life of parishioners.
Historical
background
The establishment of the Catholic Church in
the Three-Town communities dates back to the 1890s according to available records.
The 1890s could be termed as the period of preparatory work by some of the
early Missionaries towards the establishment of the Church and Schools in the
area. These preliminary works culminated in the birth of the present church,
the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in a classroom at Adafienu.
On May 25, 1890, Frs. Michael Wade and
Jean-Baptist Thuet arrived at Keta and regularly visited the towns along the
coast including the Three-Town communities to serve what was termed “stranded
Catholics among Protestants.In 1891, Fr. Wade started the first School at
Adafienu where he obtained a land from the Equagoo family but this School did
not last.The definite establishment of the Catholic Church in the Three-Town
was based on the Baptism of the first three Christians by Fr. Thuet on April 1,
1893. They were Joseph AmewozuGbogbo of Adina, John Serge Gbogbo of Adafienu
and Alfred Agbenu Tsikata of Adafienu.
The
solemn blessing of the first Church building took place on Sunday August 3,
1913, by Prefect N. Schoeng, SVD of Lome.All the Priests who had worked in the
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church have done and are still doing marvelous
work in the areas of evangelisation and the administration of the
Sacraments.The early white Fathers sowed the seeds of missionary work, won the
initial converts for the Church, built the first Chapel and built three Schools
in the three communities: Adafienu, Denu and Hedzranawo. It was from the St.
Anthony Church that the stations like Aflao, Viepe, Dzodze and Agbozume, now Parishes
on their own were established.
Role of Priests
Historically, all the priests who had worked in the
St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church Parish had done and still doing marvelous
work in the area of evangelization and the administration of the sacraments.
The early white Fathers sowed the seeds of
missionary work, won the initial converts for the church, built the first
chapel and built three basic schools in the three communities: Adafienu, Denu
and Hedzranawo. It was from the St. Anthony Church that the stations like
Aflao, Viepe and Agbozume, now Parishes on their own were established.
During his second coming, Rev. Fr. G. Hebben bought
a set of brass instruments for the youth and a tractor for farming in the
parish. He also procured material for the choir robes for both the St. Cecilia
and the Angelic Choirs.
Rev. Fr. Arnold Kotah worked tirelessly to start the
project on the New Church Building. Mgr. Leonard Hope Hormeku in his time built
what has come to be known as “the great wall of Three-Town” to stop further
encroachment n the church’s property. He built a canteen for the church and
laid the foundation for the multi-purposed classroom block dubbed “C” block. A
parcel of land was also bought at Detokope for a cemetery for the church.
During the same period Rev. Fr. YohaneseDedo started
the project on our Lady of Lourdes Chapel at Tetekope and the St. Jude Chapel
at Nogokpo. During the time of Rev. Frs. William Techie and Anthony Asinyo the
new church building started by Rev. Fr. Arnold Kotah was completed and
dedicated by his Lordship, Most Rev. Anthony Kwame Adanuty on 31st
December 2005. A new presbytery was built and the “C” block started by Mgr.
Leonard Hope Hormeku was raised from the foundation to the first floor.
The Married Couples Association during the same
period, was formed upon the advice of the priests to strengthen the marriage
institution in the church and two people were trained as marriage counselors to
support the priests in preparing couples for the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
The Funeral Society was transformed into Welfare Society to be of more benefit
to the members.
Rev. Fr. GustaveAdzaho would be fondly remembered
for a long time for his mobilization encouragement and personal involvement in
youth activities. In his brief stay, Rev. Fr. Allen Genou started weekly
morning Masses in Denu and Adafienu Communities. The Mass is celebrated in the
two communities on Tuesday and Thursday respectively.
Msgr. Joseph GbortsuAgoha worked hard to also add a
Junior High School to the Primary in Adafienu and revived the extinct Church at
Wudoaba and named, St. Teresa of Avila in addition to the existing ones such as
Blekusu, Adina, Tetekope, Hatsukope, Kpoglu and Amedzikope. Blekusu and
Hatsukope, however, assumed resident churches. He has trained six couples into
Extra-ordinary Ministers of the Holy Communion to be visiting the sick and the
aged with the Holy Eucharist in the communities.
The Parish has succeed in buying a brand new double
cabin Nissan Pick-up which was outdoored on the 1st July, 2012 to
facilitate easy movement of priests in the parish. This project was greatly
supported by Fraga Oil Ghana Ltd through the Chief Executive Officer Torgbui
Francis NyonyoAgboada.
Rev. Fr. Felix Senyo took over the administration of
the Parish in November 2013. The St. Teresa of Avila Church was officially
re-inaugurated. An electric generator was purchased to forestall power outages.
The frontage of the presbytery which was built by Rev. Fr. William Tachie was
fenced. Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Kpodo and Robert Vedenku assisted Fr. Felix Senyo to
shepherd the parish.
Rev.Fr. James Mikado arrived for pastoral work
Saturday, November 14, 2015 together with Rev.Fr. James Gbleh. He was keen in
the spiritual growth of the congregation and then quickly introduced the
Eucharistic Adoration and crusades. Plans are underway to make the old Church a
permanent Eucharistic Adoration Chapel.
The floor of the whole presbytery was tiled and the
Great Wall of Three-Town was given a face lift. Also the idea of a Parish Hall
Complex which was the outcome of the 120th Anniversary celebration
is now being implemented by Rev.Fr. James Mikado. The desire by the
congregation to expand the existing Church is also being seriously pursued.
Priests
produced by the Church
The Church has produced many Priests and Religious
for Diocesan and Missionary work over the years including Rev. Frs. Gabriel Afagbegee, SVD (1982), Edmond
Afagbegee SVD (1986), Moses AttahDebre
(1984), Jean Augustine Zakli (1998), Richard Fini (1988), Anthony Ocloo (1992),
Christopher Vordzorgbe (1994), Dominic Amegashitsi (1994), YohaneseDedo (2000), Blaise Attachie (2002).
The rest are Frs. Innocent Philip Eshun (2002),
Asser Clement Mensah (2003), Damien Dewornu (2004), Justin Harry Barawusu
(2004), Johnson Emmanuel Hoeglah ( 2007), Vincent Agboli (2007), Peter
Ashiagbor (2008), Paul Davor (2010), Hans-Gerber JuluisAgbenafa SVD (
2010), Robert Vedenku (2010), Courage
Ahashie (2011), George Amegashitsi (2012); Franklin Kuwornu (2013), Cosmos
Dewornu, SIJ (2014), Delight Cabonu (2014), Stanley Azameti (2017)
By: Damian Avevor
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