The just ended Inter-Congregational Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation (JPIC) Ghana coordinators Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held at Tamale Institute for Cross-Culture, Tamale, from the 16th to 19th of April, 2026 saw Rev. Fr. Nicholas Nibetol Aazine re-elected as the national president.
The Inter-Congregational Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation is a subsidiary body of the Conference of Major Superiors, Ghana.
The group is made up of the different Catholic Religious Congregations and Societies of Apostolic Life (comprising Priests, Sisters and Brothers working in the area of promoting justice, peace and integrity of creation through advocacy, care for the poor, the needy and the marginalised in the society, and care for the environment as stewards of mother earth.
The call to care for people and the environment is not just following the social teachings of the Catholic Church but is also part of the core values and mandate of the Church.
In other words, it is not just a teaching for some selected few but for all: priests, religious and lay faithful alike.
The AGM was officially opened with a word of welcome by the president of the group, Rev. Fr. Nicholas N. Aazine, SVD. We were also privileged to have Very Rev. Fr. Thaddeus Kuusah, the Administrator of Our Lady of Apostles Cathedral, Tamale who doubles as the Archdiocesan Director for JPC and National President for Catholic Diocesan Priests Association, who represented the Archbishop of Tamale, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, to welcome us and give us a goodwill message.
Making reference to the theme for the AGM, “The Role of Peace in Promoting Truth and Justice and Integrity of Creation”, Fr Thaddeus said that our world is increasingly marked by conflict, misinformation, ecological degradation and injustice. For this reason, peace serves as a fertile ground for truth to flourish. He added that as priests and religious, we should cherish truth and promote peaceful environment, for “This is what God wants and this is what God stand for.” He ended by conveying the Archbishop’s greetings, and wished us a fruitful AGM.
Fr. Bernard Jado, a Nigerian-born Jesuit priest, took his turn to speak extensively on the topic, “Justice Begins at Home: Accountability of Stewardship within Religious Communities”.
He highlighted the following in his presentation: understanding stewardship in religious life, accountability as a demand of justice, the home we must examine – our communities, stewardship of power and authority, and a call to conversion and on going discernment. After Fr Jado, Fr Joseph Blay, OFM Conv., took the house through how we can value and maintain peace in our various communities, work places and wherever we find ourselves.
There was also a session for Dr Ken Edem Asigbey, CEO of Ghana Chamber of Mines, to take the participants through the more worrying state of “galamsey” in Ghana. He alluded that not much change has taken place regarding the fight against galamsey. He also indicated strongly that the health risks and hazards that galamsey poses on human life are still surging each day: water bodies are still stained, babies are born with deformities, lands are destroyed, young children, particularly, boys quit going to school because they have to do galamsey, and galamsey sites or areas marred by insecurity.
He charged the group, the Catholic Church, all Christians and Muslims as well as all lovers of the environment to rise against the destruction of mother earth without giving up on the fight.
In all, about 23 Religious Institutes were represented at the year’s AGM. Towards the end of the meeting, we had our elections to select new officials for 2026 to 2029. Fr. Nicholas, SVD was re-elected the president with Sr. Joy Abuh, MSHR as his Vice. Fr. Isaac Amponsah-Boateng, CSSp, was elected the Secretary while Sr. Cynthia Godia Bienaan, CSC took the Vice Secretary position, and Bro. Irenius Nimbare, FIC, and Sr. Eduarda Bongo, RVM were elected Treasurer and Vice Treasurer respectively.
The entire Inter-Congregational JPIC is subdivided into Zones and the zonal leaders are as follows: Fr. Bernard Jado, SJ, for Zone 3B, Sr. Mabel Abayol, SSND, for Zone 3A, Bro. Clenerius Chimpali, MAfr., for Zones 1A and 1B, and Fr. Isaac Amponsah-Boateng, CSSp acting as the Zone 2 Leader.
In attendance of the AGM was Very Rev. Fr. Matthias Yaw Kotoka Amuzu, Director for Accra Archdiocesan JPC. Since last year, the Archbishop of Accra, Most Rev John Bonaventure Kwofie, CSSp has asked Fr. Amuzu to join the Inter-Congregational JPIC coordinators for our AGMs so that we can share ideas, learn from one another and partner with the Archdiocese in some of our activities.
At the end of the AGM, the group resolved to help curb the environmental menace, engage in sensitization and advocacy, help promote peaceful co-existence in our various places of apostolate, just to mention but few.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the Superiors of the various Religious Congregations and Societies of Apostolic Life for their continual unreserved support towards JPIC activities, especially, the success of the AGMs. We are equally indebted to the individuals and groups who supported us financially, not forgetting our speakers: Fr. Blay, Fr. Jado and Dr. Ken for their insightful inputs. Moreso, we thank the Archbishop of Tamale welcoming us into his Archdiocese.
Gratitude also goes to the Tamale Institute for Cross-Culture (TICC) for hosting us, not forgetting all the coordinators for coming.
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