GHANA PROVINCE HELD A CLOSING CEREMONY TO THE CANONICAL VISITATION OF THE GENERAL SUPERIOR AND HIS VICAR.

The General superiorof the FIC Congregation, Dr. Martinus Handoku and his vicar, Guido Sukarma fulfilled a constitutional obligation (Art. 141) by paying a Canonical visit to Ghana Province on the 22nd September 2014 to 29^th October 2014. They visited all the communities in Ghana and had personal talks with all the brothers as well as interacting with them in their apostolate areas. When this was done as expected, brothers from various communities came together in St. Louis community for the Provincial day to mark the end of the visitation. A Simple prayer service was organised by the liturgy group to serve as an opening to the programme.The Provincial Superior (Bro. Seregeous Der) delivered a welcome address to all present. He expressed deepest regret for the sudden death of Bro. Nicholas Zumanaa and called on the house to pray for his soul and the departed souls of other brothers in the Province. The Provincial Superior later seized the opportunity to introduce two pre-novices who just begun their formation in less than a month in St. Vincent de Paul community in Tamale. They are: Saanuu Cletus and Aserabire A. Collins. After this brief introduction, each member of the General Council took turn to deliver a message to the brothers.

First was Bro. Guido Sukarma. He shared on general issues about the life of the brothers. He also touched on apostolate, prayer life; community living, income generation for the Province among others. Bro Guido noted that the province is making efforts to generate income to keep the province growing. He further encouraged the brothers to remain committed to prayer and in their apostolate so as to continue with the good works for the growth and development of the Province and the congregation at large. Brothers asked clarifying questions after his talk.

Bro. Martinus took his turn to address the brothers. His message was a highlight of some of the issues raised by Bro. Guido. On prayer life of the brothers, he commended the communities for keeping to their prayer programmes. He remained resolute and penetrating in his delivery, emphasizing that there is hope for the congregation in the Ghana province. He noted that the brothers’ engagement in the government schools, diocesan apostolate and church activities is much talked about in the places they visited; the local ordinaries they visited also did commend the brothers for their apostolate. In furtherance, Bro. Martinus commended the Ghana Province for the bold steps taken to start a private school and a building firm which so far have received wider recognition and commendation all over Ghana.Inspeaking on the finances of the congregation Bro. Handuko spoke at length to allay the fears and the much held beliefs of some of the brothers that the finances of the congregation are dwindling.He indicated that the allocation that comes to every province is a portion of the interests on the investment they make with the capital of the congregation.  He reassures the brothers that it is the duty of the congregation to take proper care of every individual member’s needs and health and therefore the leadership will do all it can to ensure there is enough money to take care of the brothers. Bro. Handuko called on every brother to remain focused on the ideals of the founders and work towards to achieving that. The program ended with a drink in ISTC palaver hat and light refreshment in the St. Louis dining hall.