An African Catholic Bishop has clinched an important position in Vatican city. The promotion which was given to the bishop by the father of the church, His Holiness, Pope Francis was due to the bishop’s doggedness in unity promotion for Christianity.

The Bishop, Most Rev. Richard Baawobr of the Wa Diocese was appointed as a member of the Pontifical Council for Promotion of Christian Unity at the Vatican. The Ghanaian Prelate among others were appointed same day by the Holy Father Pope Francis for the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Bishop Richard Baawobr in the thick of new responsibility is said to still remain the Bishop in charge of the Catholic Diocese of Wa. Notable among them are His Eminence Cardinal Joseph William Tobin, archbishop of Newark; Bishop Mario Grech, emeritus of Gozo and pro-secretary general of the Synod of Bishops; Bishop Paulo Cezar Costa of São Carlos; Bishop Paul Rouhana, titular of Antarado and auxiliary of Joubbé, Sarba and Jounieh of the Maronites.

Rev. Fr. Richard Kuuia Baawobr was born in a very religious Catholic family on 21st June, 1959 in Tom-Zendagangn in the nativity of our Lady Parish, Ko in Nandom district in the Upper West Region of Ghana which is coterminous with the Catholic Diocese of Wa. His father, Bartholomew Baawobr, died in 1963, a few years after Fr, Baawobr was born.

His mother, Madam Theresa Bagrvial was said to have remarried to Flaviano Maalo, from which union was born the half-brother of Fr. Richard, Chrysantus Ekpaa Maalo, who is now a priest in the congregation of the Holy Spirit (CSSP). In 2004, Fr. Richard was elected First Assistant General of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa and it was in this capacity that he took part in the chapter that elected him Superior General of the society in 2010. As Superior General, he assumed the mantle of the Chancellor of the Pontifical Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (PISAI).

Fr. Baawobr in 2015 was elected by the Union of Superior Generals in Italy to attend the Ordinary synod of Bishops on the family. On the 17th day of February, 2016, Pope Francis appointed Fr. Baawobr, the new Bishop of Wa, to take over from Most Rev. Paul Bemile. May the almighty father give him and colleagues the strength, favour and Grace to win more souls as they continued to work in the Lord’s vineyard. Amen.