{"id":330818,"date":"2025-04-21T15:46:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/04\/21\/catholic-bishops-to-hold-national-memorial-mass-in-honour-of-pope-francis\/"},"modified":"2025-04-21T15:46:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T15:46:27","slug":"catholic-bishops-to-hold-national-memorial-mass-in-honour-of-pope-francis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/04\/21\/catholic-bishops-to-hold-national-memorial-mass-in-honour-of-pope-francis\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Bishops to hold national memorial mass in honour of Pope Francis"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"76\" data-end=\"283\">The Ghana Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference (GCBC) has outlined a series of solemn activities to honour the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, who died peacefully earlier on Monday, April 21, 2025.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"76\" data-end=\"283\">The Vatican announced the death of Pope Francis after he had battled a series of illnesses. However, he had been discharged from the hospital and even celebrated Mass on Easter Sunday, April 20 \u2014 just a day before his passing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"285\" data-end=\"550\">In an statement signed by Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Catholic Bishop of Sunyani and President of the GCBC, the Church in Ghana has called on all clergy, consecrated persons, and lay faithful to unite in prayer and remembrance for the late Pontiff.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"285\" data-end=\"550\">These activities will include: <span class=\"fontstyle2\">A National Memorial Mass <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">will be celebrated at a later date to be determined. All bishops, <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">priests, religious, and lay faithful who are able to attend will be warmly invited to participate in <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">this solemn liturgy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"285\" data-end=\"550\"><span class=\"fontstyle0\">\u201cAll <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle2\">archdioceses, dioceses, and parishes <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">are encouraged to organize local <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle2\">Requiem Masses <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">and <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">special <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle2\">Holy Hours <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">in honour of Pope Francis. These should be moments of prayerful reflection <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">on his teachings and witness.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-start=\"285\" data-end=\"550\"><span class=\"fontstyle0\">\u201cSchools, seminaries, and other Catholic institutions may wish to host <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle2\">prayer services, talks, or <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle2\">discussions <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">to help the faithful, especially the young, to appreciate the life and legacy of Pope <\/span><span class=\"fontstyle0\">Francis,\u201d part of the statement read.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1556\" data-end=\"1729\">The GCBC also called on all members of the Church to pray not only for the repose of Pope Francis\u2019 soul, but also for the global Church as it prepares to elect his successor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1556\" data-end=\"1729\">\u201cMay the Lord, whom he served so faithfully and joyfully, welcome him into the eternal joy of His heavenly kingdom,\u201d the statement concluded.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1878\" data-end=\"2045\">Pope Francis served as the 266th Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, leaving behind a legacy marked by simplicity, dialogue, and a deep concern for the marginalized.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Ghana Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference (GCBC) has outlined a series of solemn activities to honour the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, who died peacefully earlier on Monday, April 21, 2025. The Vatican announced the death of Pope Francis after he had battled a series of illnesses. However, he had been discharged from the hospital [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":330819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-330818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Catholic Bishops to hold national memorial mass in honour of Pope Francis - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2025\/04\/21\/catholic-bishops-to-hold-national-memorial-mass-in-honour-of-pope-francis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catholic Bishops to hold national memorial mass in honour of Pope Francis - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Ghana Catholic Bishops\u2019 Conference (GCBC) has outlined a series of solemn activities to honour the memory of His Holiness Pope Francis, who died peacefully earlier on Monday, April 21, 2025. 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