“God trusts us despite our limits”: Togolese Catholic Bishop-elect Ahead of Episcopal Ordination

The Catholic Bishop-elect for the Diocese of Kpalimé in Togo has described his forthcoming Episcopal Ordination as a call rooted in trust in God, closeness to the people and a commitment to walking with the Church in synodality.

Speaking to journalists ahead of his August 29 Episcopal Ordination, Msgr. Edmond Yawo Amekuse said he is experiencing the days leading to his consecration with “confidence, prayer and repentance,” while acknowledging the weight of the responsibility before him.

“At times there are some apprehensions, but it is not fear. Fear in the face of the greatness of the One who calls. But I let myself go, and I trust Him,” the Togolese Catholic Bishop-elect told journalists on Wednesday, August 26.

Reflecting on what has surprised him most about his call to the Episcopate, Mons. Amekuse pointed to God’s trust in human beings despite their weaknesses.

“What surprises me is the greatness and confidence of God. God trusts us despite our limits,” he said.

He added that God’s persistence in calling those he chooses has also struck him.

“God is stubborn. He wants something that he absolutely wants. Whether you flee or not, he knows how to catch you. The goodness, the love of God, he supports us,” the Catholic Bishop-elect said.

Msgr. Amekuse said his Priestly vocation did not emerge from a single defining moment but developed through a combination of people, encounters and experiences.

“There was a constellation of people, of faces, of events that marked my path. And from these constellations, God gave birth to this vocation,” he said.

He particularly recalled the influence of his parents and his childhood experiences of service in the Church.

As a young person, he served as a sacristan, among other responsibilities, experiences he said contributed to the gradual emergence of his vocation.

“All this led to the germination of this vocation that brought me to the Lord,” he said.

Msgr. Amekuse was serving as rector of the Saint John Paul II Major Seminary in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, when he received news of his June 26 appointment as Bishop of Kpalimé.

His first reaction was astonishment, he said, and explained, “When I heard the news, I said to myself, this is a joke. And then afterwards, I realized that this is reality.”

He said he initially struggled internally with the appointment but eventually accepted the call.

“I had to fight with God for a long time. And in the end, he won, fortunately. When we fight with God, he always wins,” he said.

For Mons. Amekuse, Episcopal Ministry is fundamentally about accompanying people.

“Being a Bishop means being close to others, walking with others, in the sense of synodality, being present with others in their daily lives,” he said.

He emphasized that Episcopal leadership should not be reduced to governance but should involve a genuine presence among the faithful. “Not just governing with the cross, but being with people, essentially,” he clarified.

His episcopal motto, “Ad Iutores Gaudi Vestri” — “We are co-operators of your joy”, reflects the understanding of his mission.

The motto was inspired by St. Paul’s words in his Second Letter to the Corinthians, where the Apostle describes himself as a co-worker in the joy of the Christian community.

Mons. Amekuse said his role as bishop will similarly be to walk with the faithful and help them discover the joy that comes from encountering the risen Christ.

“This joy must not be confused with pleasure, which is fleeting,” he said. “This is the joy that animates us when we really meet the risen Christ.”

Looking ahead to his ministry in Kpalimé, Mons. Amekuse identified communion as one of the most important challenges facing the local Church.

“The biggest challenge is to work for communion. Without communion, something is missing,” he said.

He said his first pastoral priority will therefore be to strengthen unity and communion.

“Unity is testimony, unity is evangelization,” he said.

Other priorities will include care for vulnerable people, evangelization, inculturation, ecumenism and strengthening existing pastoral structures.

He also underscored the importance of transparency.

Young people will occupy a central place in Mons. Amekuse’s pastoral vision.

“Young people, youth in itself is hope. When we are young, we have visions, we have dreams,” he said.

Mons. Amekuse also expressed a strong commitment to the poor and vulnerable.

“I think we should never forget that the goods of the Church are the poor. The Church must first be a Church of the poor, a Church that listens to the poor, a Church that helps the poor,” he said.

The Bishop-elect said the Church must adopt an evangelization that goes beyond waiting for people to come to its institutions.

“The Synod on Synodality has set the framework for the new evangelization, which is an evangelization of proximity,” he said.

He called for the Church to listen to people and accompany those who feel distant, discouraged or excluded.

“We must listen to people,” he said, recalling Pope Francis’ call for pastors to “feel the smell of the sheep.”

Mons. Amekuse was born in November 1967 in Agou-Akoumahou within the Diocese of Kpalimé and was ordained a Priest for the Diocese in December 1996.

Following his Priestly Ordination, he served as Parochial Vicar of Holy Spirit Cathedral of Kpalimé and as a religion teacher at the Polyvalent College of Kpalimé.

He later served as a lecturer of Liturgy at St. John Paul II Major Seminary in Lomé and as Secretary General of UCAO-UUC.

Upon his Episcopal Consecration, Mons. Amekuse will become the third Local Ordinary of the Diocese of Kpalimé.

According to 2023 Church statistics, the Diocese covers 6,447 square kilometers and serves 396,544 Catholics, representing 43.8 percent of the total population.