Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals presided on Monday, December 5, the mass for the repose of the soul of Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, bishop of Wa in Ghana. In his homily, the dean of the college of cardinals praised his missionary spirit and his great spirituality.
Marie José Muando Buabualo – Vatican City
Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, Bishop of Wa in Ghana and President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar, who was also Superior General of the Society of White Fathers died Sunday, November 27 in Rome at the age of 63. During the consistory of August 27, Pope Francis created him a cardinal with the title of priest of Santa Maria Immacolata di Lourdes in Boccea, a parish in Rome.
In his homily during a mass on Monday, December 5, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for Bishops since 2010, returned to his untimely death; his remarkable qualities of intelligence; his missionary spirit and his great spirituality. The unexpected end of his industrious existence, he said, invites us to reflect on human fragility and on the importance of living intensely in the love of God and neighbour.
A bishop close to his priests and his people
The prelate’s praise also goes to the fidelity of the deceased, who in 2016 was appointed Bishop of Wa by Pope Francis; a pastor close to his priests and his people; always available to meet and say a word of kindness to those around him. Cardinal Baawobr felt deeply “the responsibility that fell to him, the fact of being the successor of the Apostles“. Last July, the plenary assembly of the episcopate of Africa and Madagascar elected him as president, underlines Cardinal Re. And, “with him disappears a very significant figure of the “African bishop”“.
A premature death that brings consternation while maintaining hope
The dean of the college of cardinals, notes in his homily, that “this unexpected death, although having sown consternation, is part of the impenetrable plan of God, mysterious but always inspired by love, and comforted by the immortal certainties of faith.Cardinal Re’s thoughts cover the different stages of the life of the Bishop of Wa, and the good he sowed, from his birth in a Catholic family on June 21, 1959 in Nandom in the district of Lawra in Ghana, upon his death.
His life journey is marked by his initiative, organizational skills, and thoughtful readiness to proclaim the eternal truths of the gospel with the language and style of the new times. He also understood that the missionary commitment of the Institute should not be limited to Africa, but should also extend to helping countries with a Catholic tradition, which needed the Word of God and a revival in the renewal of faith and Christian witness.
Engagement in the mission in a spirit of openness
In July 2020, the Holy Father appointed him a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. He thus began a close collaboration with the Apostolic See. Many situations have seen him as an industrious protagonist, endowed with a great sense of responsibility, a desire to do good and an innate missionary spirit, continues Cardinal Re. The Bishop of Wa was engaged in intense pastoral activity, with a view to a future at the service of the Church and of humanity. Cardinal Baawobr gave a lot and seemed to promise even more. But “God’s ways are not ours“, concluded Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
Cardinal Baawobr, a bishop close to his people – Vatican News