The Catholic Bishops of the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province (TEP) who also constitute the Governing Board for the St. Victor’s Major Seminary held its annual meeting scheduled for the Second Sunday of Lent, to discuss the administration, pastoral, priestly formation and other developmental issues of the Tamale Province. The 2020, meeting was held from Sunday 8th to Friday 13th March 2020 at the St. Victor’s major Seminary.
As part of the annual meetings, there was a meeting of the Bishops with the Seminary Staff. The Bishops also held a two-day meeting from Sunday to Monday in the residence of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale, who is the Chairman of the Board of Governors and the President of the Province. The first day of their meeting was dedicated to processing of minutes of their last meeting and discussing matters relating to the Province in general.
The second day of the Bishops meeting was dedicated to receiving reports from the provincial offices. These include reports from the Executives of the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Pastoral Conference (TEPPCON), the Executive Director of the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Partnership in Action (TEPPIA); the NGO wing of the Province, the Coordinator of the Tamale Ecclesiastical Province Partnership TEPPART office, the Provincial Marriage Tribunal and also the Rector of the Saint Victor’s Major Seminary.
The Bishops used the rest of the days to hold separate meetings with the Formators and Seminarians after holding an opening Mass with them at the St. Victor’s Major Seminary. On the first day of their visit to the seminary, they met with the Seminarians of St. Michael’s Propaedeutic Seminary, St. Augustine Millennium Seminary and St. Victor’s Major Seminary. The Seminarians from these Seminaries are drawn from Dioceses in Ghana and outside Ghana such as Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast and other religious congregations. The meeting gave the Seminarians the opportunity to share their experiences with the Bishops who in turn encouraged them to persevere in the face of the academic stress and other challenges they go through as part of their formation.

The TEP Bishops also held separate meetings with the Diocesan Formators and their SVD Counterparts and later held a joint meeting with them to learn about their experiences and how they are collaborating in formation of their respective students.

The TEP Bishops

The TEP Bishops with their formatters