Emmanuel Wullingdool – Wa. The remains of the late Catholic Bishop of Wa, Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr, have been interred at St. Andrews Cathedral in the Wa Diocese.
The Cardinal was laid to rest on Thursday, January 13 following traditional and Catholic Funeral rites.
Among the dignitaries at the funeral mass for the late Cardinal were President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, Most Rev. Henryk Mieczyslaw Jagodzinsk, Cardinal Peter K. Appiah Turkson, leadership of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar, (SECAM) Members of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference among others.
The Wa Sports Stadium was filled to capacity by well-wishers during the requiem mass to pay their last respects to his Eminence Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr of the Missionary of Africa.
Speaking at a funeral Mass held at the Wa Sports Stadium on Thursday, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the demise of His Eminence Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr M.Afr had created a big vacuum in the country difficult to fill.
He said his impact on the social and spiritual lives of the people in Ghana, especially the Catholic community, was immense and cannot be measured.
“Our nation has lost one of the finest citizens, one who will be difficult to replace,” President Akufo-Addo said in Wa on Thursday during the final funeral rites of the late Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr, the then Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Wa.
His Eminence Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr died on Sunday, 27 November 2022.
On August 27, Pope Francis called for prayers for Ghanaian Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr who is said to have taken ill upon his arrival in Rome for a Consistory officially creating new cardinals for the Church.
“..Richard Cardinal Kuuia Baawobr who since his arrival in Rome fell ill and has been hospitalized with heart problems and it seems he may need surgery. Let’s remember him as well,” Pope Francis said.
In February 2016, His Eminence Baawobr was appointed the 4th Bishop of Wa, taking over from His Lordship Paul Bemile. This was after he had served six (6) years as Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) from May 2010.
Shortly after his announced elevation to the Office of Cardinal in August, His Eminence was elected President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) at its 19th Plenary held in Accra.
The continental body is composed of eight (8) regional conferences, and Cardinal Baawobr is the first Ghanaian to serve as its President.