Leaders of the Accra Archdiocesan Catholic Organisation for Social and Religious Advancement (COSRA) in Ghana have been challenged to adopt a more demanding model of Gospel leadership, marked by prayer, perseverance and collaboration even with those who oppose them.
The call came at the opening Mass of the Accra Archdiocesan Annual Leaders’ Retreat and Council Meeting in the Accra Archdiocese, held at the Society of Missionaries of Africa Retreat Centre over the weekend.
Preaching to archdiocesan and deanery executives, Rev. Fr. Abraham Guolitiri, SMA, rooted his reflection in the Christian identity of leaders as people set apart for service.
“We have been possessed. We have been set apart. We are God’s chosen people. We are leaders at the archdiocesan level, at the denary level. We have been set apart,” he said.
He reminded participants that leadership in the Church is not about status but service. “We are leaders not for ourselves, but to serve.”
Fr. Guolitiri noted that collaboration often comes easily when relationships are smooth. “But you see, it’s very easy to serve people with whom we are in good terms with. It’s very easy to collaborate with people with whom we are in good terms with.”
He continued: “People that make work easy for us, we would always want those people to be around us. People that make things move on, those are the people we would want to pull into our circle.”
However, he insisted that Gospel leadership requires more. “But as leaders in the church, it goes beyond that. We are called to work with everybody. We are called to collaborate with everybody. No matter their weaknesses, no matter their failures.”
Speaking to the pressures many lay leaders experience, he said: “I am sure that as leaders, you have people who pester you. Who makes their work difficult for you. You are sacrificing, you are not sleeping. You are giving it all your best just to get things moving, just to get things being done.”
In such moments, he warned against discouragement. “Jesus reminds us today that if we say we are true leaders, then we should be ready to work with those who even persecute us. And it’s not going to be easy. But he gives us the solution to that.”
That solution, he said, lies in prayer. “He says, pray for them. When you begin to pray for them, then you will see that it becomes easier. The hate, the bad feelings and emotions that you have against those people begin to transform into love.”
Concluding, Fr. Guolitiri returned to the foundation of their vocation: “So let us remember that we have been chosen, we have been called by God, and we are set apart and possessed by God.”
The three-day gathering held from 27 February to 1 March 2026 brought together archdiocesan executives, chaplains, past and present national leaders, deanery executives, and committee chairpersons, alongside invited guests.
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