Accra,
GHANA
Ghana’s President
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday laid the foundation stone for a
national cathedral to be located in the capital Accra.
The president was joined by leadership of major
Christian congregations, government officials, ambassadors, traditional
authorities and a cross-section of citizens at the event.
A key talking point about the event was the
importation of a stone from Jerusalem which the president dropped into the
first digging at the site. Local online portal GhanaWeb reported
that the Israeli ambassador Shani Cooper presented the stone to President
Akufo-Addo.
The stone, according to her, will symbolize the sacredness of the land
earmarked for the project as Christians regard Jerusalem to be the most sacred
site in the world. She added that Isreal’s involvement in the construction of
the Ghana National Cathedral will strengthen ties between the two countries,
the report added.
Actual work on the cathedral begins today,
March 6, 2020. Today marks Ghana’s 63rd independence anniversary with the
national celebrations taking place in the second largest city of Kumasi in the
Ashanti region.
The president in a Facebook post said the
facility “will be the rallying point for the Christian community to come
together to worship, to pray and to promote deep national conversations on the
role of faith in building Ghana.
“It will house a Bible Museum, and it will be
an iconic infrastructure for national, regional and international pilgrimage
and tourism. It will be a monument to religious liberty. Its construction
deserves the full support of the nation,” he added.
The interdenominational Christian Cathedral,
when completed, will have a 5,000 seating capacity with chapels, a baptistery,
a music school, an art gallery, and a Bible museum.
It will also serve as a venue for formal state
occasions of religious nature such as state funerals, thanksgiving services
among others.
“…since gaining our freedom from the colonial
power sixty-three years ago on the 6th of March 1957, Ghana has so far been
speared civil war, famine, and epidemics,” said the president.
“We are certainly no better than the other
nations in our neighborhood who have been confronted with these challenges. I
believe it is by the grace of God that we have been preserved and sustained.
The construction of the Cathedral will be an act of thanksgiving to the
Almighty for His Blessings, Grace, Favour and Mercies on our nation,” he added.
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Africa
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