Conference of Major Superiors and Consecrated Persons from across Ghana have gathered in Wa for a week-long assembly focused on collaboration, leadership and the future of the Church’s mission amid changing realities.
The Biannual Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious, Ghana (CMSR-Gh) is taking place from October 4 to 10, 2026, at the In-Service Training Centre in the Diocese of Wa.
The assembly is being held under the theme, “Synodal paths to mission sustainability: Walking together in hope,” and brings together Major Superiors of Religious men and women, Consecrated Persons and collaborators for prayer, reflection, dialogue and discernment.
CMSR-Gh president calls for stronger collaboration
Opening the assembly on October 6, CMSR-Gh President Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu, SMMC, urged Congregations to deepen collaboration and make better use of their diverse charisms, experience and resources.
She said the differences among Congregations should not become a source of division but should strengthen their common service to the Church and society.
“The time has come for us to move beyond simply working alongside one another to genuinely walking together,” she said.
Sr. Dr. Hometowu said no single Congregation could adequately respond to all the needs of the present time and called for greater sharing of gifts, personnel and resources.
“No single Congregation can respond adequately to all the needs of our time. But when we bring our gifts, experiences, personnel and resources together, we can accomplish much more,” she said.
She identified formation, vocation promotion, youth empowerment, safeguarding, ecological justice, healthcare, education, pastoral ministry, social transformation and communication as some of the areas where Congregations could collaborate more closely.
She also mentioned the care of elderly and infirm clergy and Consecrated Persons and the sustainable management of resources.
According to her, the CMSR-Gh provides a platform for Consecrated Persons to learn from one another, support one another and discern together how best to serve the Church and society.
Wa Diocese welcomes participants
In an address read on his behalf by the Vicar General of the Diocese, Very Rev. Fr. John Kunpiel, the Bishop of Wa Diocese, Most Rev. Francis Bomansaan, M.Afr.
Bishop Bomansaan expressed appreciation to Congregations serving in Ghana for their various charisms and contributions to the life of the Church.
He described the assembly as more than a meeting, saying it provides an opportunity for renewal, reflection on the prophetic and apostolic role of Consecrated Persons and stronger collaboration in evangelisation.
“This Biannual Conference, my dear brothers and sisters, is more than a meeting. It is a moment of renewal,” he said.
He also described the theme as timely in light of the Church’s ongoing synodal journey, saying the assembly offered an opportunity for Consecrated Persons to practise “working together, listening together, discerning together, and acting together.”
He urged the participants to use their time in Wa to listen deeply to God and to one another and return to their communities with renewed zeal, fresh vision and stronger bonds of fraternity.
Fr Blay challenges Major Superiors on mission continuity
In a keynote address, Franciscan Catholic priest and academic, Friar Dr. Joseph Kwame Blay challenged Major Superiors to look beyond the maintenance of projects and institutions and consider how the mission of the Church can continue after the present generation of leaders is gone.
He said schools, hospitals, social care institutions and church buildings established by Religious Institutes are means through which the Church participates in Christ’s mission rather than the mission itself.
“The mission belongs to Christ. We are stewards, collaborators and servants of a mission that precedes us and will outlive us,” he said.
Fr. Blay said mission sustainability requires the transmission of faith, charism, competence, responsibility and mission from one generation to the next.
“A mission can have money and still be unsustainable. It can have buildings and still be unsustainable. It can have vocations and still be unsustainable,” he said.
He identified spiritual, vocational, leadership, institutional, charismatic, financial and material sustainability as important dimensions of the future of mission.
He also warned against leadership structures that depend heavily on one individual and urged Religious Institutes to deliberately prepare successors.
“The real test of a missionary is not only what happens while he or she is present, but what remains when he or she is gone,” he said.
Call to move from ‘my mission’ to shared mission
Fr. Blay further challenged Religious Institutes to move away from what he described as an ego-centred approach to mission towards a Christ-centred model built on shared responsibility.
He urged Congregations to invest in indigenous vocations, develop succession plans, strengthen collaboration and create networks for sharing personnel, expertise and resources.
He also called for stronger cooperation between Religious Institutes and dioceses, saying the question should not be who owns a particular mission.
“The question, therefore, should not be: Who owns the mission? But: How can the bishop, diocesan clergy, religious and lay faithful together sustain Christ’s mission entrusted to this local Church?” he said.
He said the future of the Church’s mission would require a shift from “mission done for people” to “mission done with people”.
The CMSR-Gh Biannual Plenary Assembly continues in Wa until October 10, with participants expected to reflect and discern on the challenges and opportunities facing Consecrated Life and its contribution to the Church in Ghana.
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