Features
A unique Lutheran and Catholic cooperation
Isn’t it beautiful when people live together in love and unity? I guess many people will agree to this when they hear about a unique collaboration, unity, and love between two distinct groups.
Dear readers, allow me to write about something that is quite different from what I have usually been writing about with a focus on Ghanaian/African migrants or groups and their accomplishments in Finland.
Today, I write about a unique way of collaboration between the Lutheran and the Catholic Church in Finland.
For almost four years now, the Africa Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland (ACCF) has used the Lutheran Church premises in Kallio, a suburb of Helsinki, Finland’s capital city.
Catholics using a Lutheran church premises
I found and still find it heart-warming that the Lutheran body would give their premises to members of the Catholic Church to use.
Indeed, using the Lutheran church became necessary when the African Chaplaincy grew in number and their original place at the St. Mary’s Church was too small.
On November 13, 2022, an important milestone in ecumenism was achieved when a Thanksgiving Holy Mass was celebrated by the African Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland (ACCF) at the Kallio (Lutheran) Church in Helsinki.
The main celebrant in that unique joint church service was Monsignor Emeritus, Teemu Sippo S. C. I., the Bishop Emeritus of the Catholic Diocese of Helsinki. Among the dignitaries were leaders of the Kallio (Lutheran) Church and the Finnish Ecumenical Council, and the Catholic Church in Finland.
No wonder that in announcing the mass service, the Catholic Church expressed appreciation this way: “In thanksgiving to the Evangelical Lutheran Diocese of Helsinki and especially the Kallio parish for the great ecumenical hospitality and cooperation in allowing the African Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland to celebrate Sunday Masses in the Kallio church”.
A gesture worthy of emulation, unity in diversity
What touched me about the whole idea and experience was not merely the coming together of faithful Catholic, Lutheran and other worshippers, but also the portrayal of love, unity, and harmony.
This, to me is a gesture worthy of emulation. The Lutheran Church should be commended for allowing the African Catholic Chaplaincy, which has been growing, to use the Lutheran Church in Kallio for their Sunday mass services.
The show of appreciation by the African Catholic Chaplaincy to the Kallio (Lutheran) Church for allowing them to conduct their mass services every Sunday in the Kallio Church is also commendable.
That mass service in November 2022 was indeed a well-attended religious occasion with unforgettable experience. It showcased unity among brethren and emphasised the importance of promoting unity despite their diversity backgrounds.
There was an impressive display of diverse cultures from different parts of Africa and elsewhere. The event was spiced by a rich cultural display of dances and colourful attires which were a delight to watch.
For example, members of the Ghanaian Catholic community wore their gay and colourful kente attire and led the procession into the church with their rhythmic adowa dance and music. Other communities such as the Cameroonian, Nigerian, Kenyan and Tanzanian as well as South Sudanese groups also put up well-choreographed performances.
The African Catholic Chaplaincy in Finland
The African Chaplaincy was founded on June 4, 2017, which was a Pentecost Sunday, in a Pontifical High Mass celebrated by Monsignor Emeritus Sippo S.C.I., the then Bishop of Helsinki, at the St. Mary’s Catholic Parish Church in Helsinki.
The Chaplaincy was created by Bishop Sippo to fulfil the desire of the Diocese to give African immigrants in Finland the possibility to be at ease and freely worship in their everyday lives in Finland. The Catholic Church in Finland has about 15,000 registered Catholics, half of whom are native Finns. The rest of the Faithful come from at least 100 different countries from all five Continents in the world.
In all, there are eight parishes in Finland, with two in the capital city, Helsinki (St Mary’s and St. Henry’s). There are also dozens of priests working in Finland.
The formation of the Chaplaincy in 2017 was as a result of collaboration by then Bishop Sippo with the Diocesan body when they detected a great flocking of African immigrants to Finland, the majority of whom were Catholics, in order to give them a possibility to integrate into the Finnish society by worshipping as Catholics and in their African cultural identity.
By Perpetual Crentsil
Email: perpetualcrentsil@yahoo.com
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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