How SSVP Legon is combating declining Catholic population in Ghana

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SSVP) at the St. Thomas Aquinas Chaplaincy, University of Ghana, Legon, has launched a support-based intervention aimed at retaining youth in the Church through a holistic model of care.

Mr Gabriel Asempa Antwi, President of the SSVP Legon and National Treasurer of the Society in Ghana, disclosed the initiative during an interview with Fr Paul Samasumo on Vatican Radio’s “Family” programme. The project, which began as a pilot on campus, offers tangible support to students, including meals, soft skills training, mentorship, and career guidance, as a means of strengthening their connection to the Church.

“For the past 15 years, we’ve observed a worrying decline in youth participation in Church activities,” said Mr Antwi. “We embarked on a support-based approach to meet students at the point of their needs with the aim of sustaining and retaining them within the Church. We achieved some results, but because the approach is quite capital intensive, we couldn’t sustain it fully.”

Ghana’s 2021 census data revealed that the Catholic population had declined from 15.1% in 2000 to 10.1%, a trend Mr Antwi says is deeply troubling. “Our youth are not abandoning faith altogether; they’re simply finding other denominations that better support them emotionally, socially, and materially,” he added.

The SSVP’s approach draws inspiration from the Gospel story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. “Jesus began his ministry with food. After the people had eaten, then He gave them the Word,” Mr Antwi noted. “It’s not a transactional model. The support is a bridge to a spiritual encounter.”

One particularly successful initiative is the breakfast programme offered after morning Mass. “Participation at Mass moved from 15 to 200 simply because we provided breakfast. The Church was already offering the homily and sacraments. We just added a loaf of bread and a warm drink,” he explained.

The SSVP is now scaling the model to include mentorship, internships, entrepreneurship coaching, artificial intelligence training, leadership development, and even a “marriage school” to provide relationship counselling. An endowment fund and monitoring team are being established to ensure sustainability.

Mr Antwi emphasised that the initiative is largely lay-driven, though warmly supported by clergy who have witnessed the dramatic uptick in attendance. “It took the efforts of an older member, Mr Mark, to push through early resistance and finance the pilot project. When our chaplain saw the empirical results, he and others became fully supportive.”

He acknowledged the role of social media and direct feedback from students in shaping and refining the programme.

The SSVP’s intervention may serve as a model for parishes across Africa and beyond that are grappling with youth disengagement. As Mr Antwi put it, “If we don’t take deliberate action now, as the Bishops have warned, by 2060 there may be no youth left in our pews to minister to.”

With creativity, commitment, and community-driven compassion, SSVP Legon is demonstrating that the Church’s future lies not just in preaching the Gospel, but in living it.