Cardinal to strengthen links between Catholics in England and Ghana

Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Archbishop of Cape Coast, Ghana, is to visit England from 15 to 21 October to strengthen existing links between the two countries and highlight the importance of World Mission Sunday.

Cardinal Turkson is one of the leading voices of the African Catholic Church, which has seen its numbers triple in the last 30 years to 150 million.

The fifty-nine-year-old cardinal believes that Africa has a duty to support the church in Europe. Just as Europe was generous in its missionary outreach to Africa, so now the church in Africa must be equally forthcoming in sharing in the worldwide mission of the church. Ghana has one priest for every 2,400 Catholics while Great Britain has one for every 890.

Cardinal Turkson will deliver a lecture at the Von Hügel Institute, Cambridge University, at 5.15pm on Thursday 18 October.

He will celebrate Mass for the Ghanaian community at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday 20 October, before celebrating Mass on World Mission Sunday on 21 October at St George's Cathedral, Southwark.

The theme is All the Church for All the World - all local churches supporting and encouraging each other to share God's love with all.

The Association for the Propagation of the Faith (APF), which coordinates World Mission Sunday, is the only organisation which supports every mission diocese in the world on their journey to becoming self-sufficient.

The collections taken in each diocese in England and Wales are sent directly by APF to the local churches around the world. This year APF is supporting projects in Ghana with over £500,000, along with £2m sent to other countries in the mission territories of Africa and Asia.