A Ghana bishop, Bishop Peter Paul Angkyier of the Diocese of Damongo, affirms that the Catholic Church in northern Ghana is actively working for peace by challenging and seeking to reform injustices entrenched in traditional social and cultural systems. When the bishop ordained two young men to the priesthood on 29 August 2026, their presence together at the altar delivered a powerful message of reconciliation: one hailed from an ethnic community that had recently suffered a fatal attack, while the other belonged to the community responsible for the aggression:
“I told them this is a sign from God that they have to work together”.
The territory of Damongo is home to at least 23 distinct tribes, with animists and Muslims forming the demographic majority and Christians representing a small proportion of the population. While communal relations remain generally peaceful, disputes over land ownership and friction surrounding traditional social structures occasionally trigger violent clashes. Speaking during a visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Königstein, Germany, Bishop Angkyier stated:
“Our mission as a Church, which is the mission of Christ, is to promote unity”.
A Ghana bishop challenges oppressive social systems
Bishop Peter Paul recounted his direct mediation during a deadly tribal dispute in 2025 centered on rigid customs:
“It was an issue about injustice. People felt that they were being treated unjustly and they have been oppressed, so they tried to resist”.
The subsequent retaliation resulted in casualties and displacement:
“People were suffering, people were dying. Some of the people were fleeing across to the Ivory Coast, across the Volta River, some were fleeing into Burkina Faso”.
Seeking to protect affected families, including local Catholics, the prelate approached prominent tribal authorities:
“I tried to dialogue with different chiefs, and the impression that I got was that they didn’t see that there was anything wrong. In fact, they told me that I should speak to the people who had been attacked, to tell them that there is a certain system, and that they should know what their position is, rather than trying to mix up this order”.
Refusing to validate customs that undermine human worth, Bishop Angkyier stressed the need for structural transformation:
“St. Thomas Aquinas said that an unjust law should not be obeyed. If there are unjust systems, the only way to have peace is to reform them. And that is one of the challenges that we face. As a church we try to help different people to come to see that fundamentally everyone is created by God and has a dignity, and no matter what you are doing, you cannot infringe on the dignity of the human person. It is not very easy to break through this mentality. It will take some time, but evangelisation also means reforming and transforming cultural aspects and traditions that are not Christ-like”.
Evangelisation through education and peace initiatives
To address deep-seated divisions, the Church utilizes schooling as a cornerstone for human development. Although Catholics make up 7.6% of the diocesan population, the Church operates approximately 75% of primary schools in the region, welcoming students of all religious traditions:
“The Catholic education we provide permits cultural dialogue, it is an opportunity for youths to get to encounter people from other tribes and cultures, which in turn leads to confidence and mutual trust”.
In addition, the diocese maintains the Center for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies, founded by Bishop Angkyier’s predecessor to foster dialogue across ethnic lines:
“Noticing that there was this problem of a multi-ethnic diocese, as well as the issue of mistrust, he established a Center for Conflict Transformation and Peace Studies, which is open to all”.
“We have training programmes for different categories of people. For instance, opinion leaders, traditional leaders, youth groups and others. The center is a testimony to the desire to promote peaceful coexistence. We also have, for instance, programmes with the Muslims. Interreligious dialogue is something very, very important for us because we have many mixed families”.
Bishop Angkyier concluded by reiterating that evangelical brotherhood must transcend ethnic loyalty, pointing back to the ordination of the two young priests:
“I told them that through them, their people should know that we are one community, we have one dignity. Because if these two priests hang on to their cultural traditions, they cannot be Christ-like. If there is a conflict, or there is a problem, and you identify with your cultural group rather than to seeing yourself as a Christian, that is a betrayal of the mission”.
ACN continues to assist the Diocese of Damongo through chapel and church construction, vehicles for pastoral reach, theological formation for seminarians and priests, and Mass stipends for clergy support.