The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference has issued a directive urging priests to desist from considering the contents of envelopes presented by Parishioners during offertory as personal money intended for priests.
According to the Bishops, parishioners line up with their offerings during Holy Mass. Some, however, bring envelopes during the offertory procession. But the contents of these envelopes, the Bishops say are used differently from diocese to diocese.
They observe that even within the same Diocese, different parishes handle these envelopes differently, for example, in some Dioceses and Parishes, the content of these envelopes are taken by the priest(s) celebrant as personal money intended for him. A phenomenon the Bishops say is liturgically wrong.
According to the President of the Conference, Most Rev. Matthew Gyamfi, the liturgical correction is expected to be implemented as soon as possible in all Dioceses, Archdioceses, Parishes and Outstations by the beginning of the New Year, 2023.
The directive was carried out in a December 21 statement signed by the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference and addressed to Presidents of the National Union of Ghana Diocesan Priests’ Associations.
Read the full directive below
