Ghana: Bishops Sound the Alarm

“The Church in Ghana may embark on an aggressive catechesis.” For Bishop Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, it is not really the time for grand dissertations on synodality: it is with gravity that the president of the GCBC commented on the numbers of the latest census concerning religion in the country with his colleagues in a Plenary Assembly on November 13.

A Concerning Drop

“Available records show that the Catholic population increased steadily from 1880 until 2000 when Catholic population was 15.1%. [...] This figure further declined to 10.1% in the 2021 census, down from 3,230,996 to 3,079,261, meaning that statistically, the Church lost approximately, 230,000 of its members within the last ten to eleven years,” the prelate stated.

These figures run counter to what we can observe elsewhere on the African continent, where Catholicism is generally expanding: in fact, the number of Catholics has increased from 257 million in 2020 to 265 million in 2021—an overall increase of more than 8 million.

At the same time, the proportion of Catholics in comparison with all African people increased from 19.33% to 19.38%.

The decline of the Church in Ghana affects the urban centers more than the countryside—something Bishop Gyamfi took notice of: “The Census data suggests that when Catholics move from the rural areas to the urban centers, they fail to sustain their Catholic faith and fall prey to other sects.

“The reasons for this sad phenomenon need to be studied carefully by the bishops and their major stakeholders in order to find a permanent solution to the problem.”

A Significant Increase in Pentecostals

In fact, in the same period, the proportion of believers claiming to follow Pentecostalism has largely increased in the country, growing from 24.1% in the year 2000 to 31.6% in 2021, to such an extent that we speak of Ghana experiencing a “Pentecostalization” of Catholicism.

The president of the GCBC certainly intends to rectify the defects in the transmission of the Faith which are primarily at the root of this hemorrhage: “The Church must strengthen and deepen the catechesis offered for the reception of the Sacraments, particularly the Sacraments of Christian Initiation,” he insisted to his colleagues in the episcopacy.

“Gyamfi has previously cited other factors for the drop in Catholic numbers, including the negative effects of social media, inadequate formation for marriage and family life, a failure to involve the laity in pastoral ministry, and a decline in missionary zeal,” The Pillar reports.

This is without doubt a good opportunity to return to the traditional methods which are glimpsed in the conclusion: catechism development, education of future spouses and support for married couples, Catholic schools, doctrinal formation, vocation guidance, and prevention of Pentecostal propaganda.