vol. 1 issue 3 herald newsletter

January-June ,2012

Volume 1, Issue 3

giving back to our coun-

try, communities, edu-

cational, religious, and

social institutions.

I can envisage an even

better Liberia if we work

to heal and reconcile

this country through ad-

dressing the root

causes of our conflict

and also developing a

culture of giving back.

+Most Rev. Andrew J. Karnley

Bishop of Cape Palmas

Message from the Bishop

I am of the opinion

that Liberia is

gradually moving

forward in building

the institutions of

democracy, good

governance and the

rule of law. Plans

and visions are also

being crafted for the

infrastructural de-

velopment , social

and economic re-

covery of the coun-

try. Liberia has

once again become

a respectable inter-

national partner.

The country ’ s

mineral, forest, ma-

rine , and oil re-

sources have made

her attractive to in-

ternational partners.

Liberia has now be-

come of strategic

interest to some

global economic

stalwarts.

But I need to ask

two questions in-

spite of the note of

optimism expressed

thus far : Where is

Liberia heading in

terms of healing and

reconciliation? And

what are we Liberi-

ans giving back in the

rebuilding process of

our country, commu-

nities, educational,

religious and social

economic institu-

tions?

I am a subscriber to

the principle that de-

velopment contrib-

utes to peace. But we

equally need to ad-

dress the root causes

of the lack of devel-

opment, social and

economic inequality

in the past that inevi-

tably lead to the con-

flict. Some programs

of structural justice

are being under

taken but more

needs to be done.

With regard to the

second question, we

Liberians need to de-

velop the culture of

Inside this issue:

Priestly Ordination and Reli-gious Profession Bishop Karnley visits Catholic Agencies in Germany

2

3

Msgr. Gaye speaks at Devel-

opment Conference

Pastoral & Social Strategic

Planning committee Installed

4

5

Renewal Ministries Conduct Seminar & Revival

5

Boosting Education in

Liberia

Bishop Karnley reopens the Mission in Sasstown

6

7

Serving Humanity with Dig-

nity

8

CHS activities in Photos Priestly Ordination in Photos Final Religious Profession in Photos

9

10

11

Renewing the Infrastructure

of the Diocese of Cape Pal-

mas

Back cover

12

13

Cape Palmas Herald Diocesan Newsletter

His Excellency, Most Rev. Karnley

Priestly Ordination and Religious Profession 4 Priests Ordained and 3 Religious Professed in the Diocese of Cape Palmas

January 7– 8, 2012, are days that will never be forgotten in the history of the church in Cape Palmas . During this period, the people of God were able to wit-ness for the first time, the ordination of 4 young men to the priesthood and 3 young religious making their final profession. These events are signs of growth for the local church. The ordaining prelate was Archbishop John Onaiyekan of the Archdiocese of Abuja, Nigeria. The ordination which was held in open air at the St. Francis Par-ish in Pleebo brought together hundreds of well wishers from across Liberia and a delegation from Nigeria. Those ordained to the Priesthood were, Rev. Fr. Fran-cis Torpor, Rev. Fr. Pius Gipply ,Rev. Fr. Joseph Tugbe and Rev. Fr. Godfrey Ne-mah. In his homily, Archbishop Onaiyekan called on the congregation to ob-serve a moment of silence for the Late Rev. Stanley Tarwo who would had been the fifth candidate for ordination. He thanked the families of the ordinands for presenting them to the church for ordination and service in the church. He also called on family members not to bother the ordinands with family problems. He then said it is great joy for the Church in Cape Palmas to have four priests or-dained on the same day. Speaking with the press, after the ordination , Bishop Karnley said, this is a boost to the human resource capacity of the diocese.

A day after the ordination, Sr. Emily Wureh, Sr, Patience Payne, and Sr. Amelia Wallace, all of the Sisters of the Holy Family, made their final profession of chastity, poverty, and obedience in the presence of their Mother Superior Sr. Edith Wallace and Bishop Andrew J. Karnley. The occasion was graced by the presence of the Archbishop Lewis Zeigler of the Archdiocese of Monrovia as well as Archbishop John Onaiyekan of Abuja, Nigeria.

In his homily, Msgr. Melvin Nyanti Gaye, Vicar General of Cape Palmas, said that the way to poverty, chastity and obedience is through humility, prayer and the sacraments. Humility , he said is being opened to say YES. He cautioned the sis-ters to recognize their poverty and surrender themselves to the Lord in humility. The only way that can happen he said , is through prayer. “Spend time in prayer with God and that will sustain your vocation.” Msgr. Gaye added.

Msgr. Gaye continued, “Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation are important sacra-ments that nourish every vocation. Holy Eucharist reminds of the total self-giving to which we are called. As Jesus gives you his body and blood in the Eucharist, may you give him yourselves completely so as to receive him worthily and be nourished spiritually”.

In conclusion, Msgr. Gaye called on the sisters to live their vocation faithfully for the rest of their lives. “May the Lord who pours forth his spirit upon you strengthen your hearts and minds to persevere in the call he has given you. He has chosen you, he calls you his friends. May you respond like Mary, Let it be done unto me according to your word”, Msgr. Gaye said.

Cape Palmas Herald

Editorial

Reconciliation is God’s Initiative

There is no agreed upon definition of reconciliation in human societies. Our Liberian culture have a distinct concept of reconciliation that is expressed ritually: an accusation of wrong doing is leveled at someone, that person acknowledges the wrong doing and apologizes in some formal way; the apology is accepted by the community, signifying forgiveness.

First of all, reconciliation is not a human achievement, but the work of God within us. From the past and present situations of our country, we see the challenges in reconciling our many tribes and peoples. It is apparent how enormous, complex, and nearly impossible the task of reconciliation is in Liberia. What will reconciliation mean for a neighbor whose son was killed by another neighbor’s son or what will reconciliation mean for a child who saw his parents killed by rebels? All of these are situations that appear to exceed our capacity to change completely.

It is God who initiates the work of reconciliation in the lives of victims. Ordinarily, we expect reconciliation to begin with the repentance of the wrongdoers. But experience in Liberia shows that wrongdoers are rarely willing to acknowledge what they have done. This was seen in the Truth & Reconciliation Commission hearings around the country. If reconciliation is depended entirely upon wrongdoers’ initiative, there would be no reconciliation at all in Liberia.

This emphasis on God’s initiative could lead some to assume that human activity contributes nothing to the reconciliation process. God’s action is not some thunderbolt over and apart from human action. This communion between the human and the divine involves divine initiative coming through human action. It is in God working through us that reconciliation is to be found. Reconciliation means in the first instance, then, the cultivation of a relationship with God that becomes the medium through which reconciliation can happen. That relation expresses itself in practices that create space for truth, justice, healing, and new possibilities. Such practices lead to creating communities of memory, safe places to explore and untangle a painful past, and the cultivation of truth-telling to overcome the lies of injustice and wrongdoing.

Bishop Karnley visits Catholic Agencies in Germany

And speaks to the press on Taylor’s trail

humanity. He was arrested on March 29, 2006 when he tried to flee Nigeria. Taylor was president of Liberia from 1997 to 2003. He was on trial on a 11 count indictment for war crimes against humanity and crimes against human-ity committed during the civil conflict in Sierra Leone.

In December 1989, Taylor, launched an armed upris-ing to overthrow the Sam-uel Doe regime, leading to the Liberian civil war. Dur-ing the civil war , all Libe-rian dioceses suffered greatly; a Ghanaian priest and five American nuns were killed, the Church’s properties were vandalized by Taylor’s rebels, and nu-merous nuns and priests fled the country. With help from foreign Catholic fund-ing agencies, Liberia’s three dioceses, the Archdiocese of Monrovia and the Dio-ceses of Cape Palmas and Gbarnga are gradually re-building their infrastruc-tures ,human capacity, so-cial and pastoral programs.

Bishop Andrew Karnley paid a two week visit to Germany from April 15-29,2012 to meet with Catholic funding agencies with the view to strengthening the bonds of partnership and ac-quainting them with the pastoral and social devel-opments of the Diocese of Cape Palmas. While in Germany, he held meet-ings with the following agencies: MISEREOR, Misso Aachen and Kin-dermissionswerk in Aachen, the Medical Mis-sion Institute in Wurz-burg, CARITAS Germany in Freiburg, Aid to the Church in Need in Konig-

stein, the Association for Development Cooperation (AGEH) and the Archdio-cese of Cologne in Co-logne. These agencies are already giving support to the pastoral and social de-velopment programs of the diocese.

Meanwhile , the press offi-cers of MISEREOR and Aid to the Church in Need in-terviewed Bishop Karnley about the Charles Taylor trail and verdict in The Hague. In the interviews, Bishop Karnley stated that the trail and verdict of the former Liberian Presi-dent were a welcomed development in establish-ing a culture of holding people accountable for their actions and also in breaking the culture of impunity. He further stated that it is his hope that the guilty verdict that has been served on Mr. Taylor will bring some measure of healing in Si-erra Leone and Liberia.

The former Liberian Presi-dent has been standing trial in The Hague for war crimes and crimes against

Volume 1, Issue 3

“With the tasks and

challenges before us, I make a fervent appeal to the Clergy, Religious and

Laity of the Diocese of Cape Pa lma s f o r

collaborative action in the

dispensation of our duties in the Lord’s vineyard.

There is a popular saying that unity gives strength”.

Bishop Andrew J. Karnley (abstract from Bishop karnley’s remarks on

April 30,2011)

To read more visit: http://www.churchinneed.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6995&news_iv_ctrl=1001 Thursday, April 26

Bishop Karnley

Msgr. Gaye speaks at Maryland County Development Conference

Marylanders as well as the entire country needed more human capacity development most especially in the area of agriculture. Marylanders, he said, should find ways to enhance development and that those ways must involve the local communities.

Acting Dean of TU’s College of Man-agement and Public Administration, Prof. Isaac George, then spoke on current issues and pressing needs in the county. He stated that many of the past challenges had been met but that there are still key outstanding areas of concern: Education, Security, Economic Revitalization, Road Recon-struction & Reconciliation. He laid the road-map for the conference by com-paring targets in the 2008 Poverty Reduction Strategy with the County Development Agenda.

On the theme “NGOs and Inter-national Organizations as Develop-ment Partners”, Mr. Anthony Riggio of Marylanders for Progress (MFP) and Phil Merriam, of the National Mary-land County Association of Liberia (NAMCAL) were the presenters. Mr. Riggio, shared a Kru proverb that says, “ once a person begins the process of bending down to start picking up a bucket of water, help will come as he or she is halfway”. He stated that NGO’s help people who are deter-mined to help themselves. He gave an overview of contributions MFP made to the people of Maryland in the past, such as the market women, a library in Pleebo, JJ Dossen Hospital, etc. MFP also promised to help with a radio transmitter in response to a plea by delegates at the conference.

Group discussions were captured. An open forum was facilitated by Rev. Rita Townsend, TU’s Vice President for Institutional Advancement to identify key areas. Rev. Amb. Dean Gerald Coleman was the conference facilita-tor, while Mr. Henry Woart ably served as interpreter.

The Vicar General of the Diocese of Cape Palmas, Rev. Msgr. Melvin Gaye spoke on April 23, 2012 at the Mary-land County Development Confer-ence. The two day conference ,which was held from April 23-24, 2012, was hosted by the William V.S. Tubman University (TU) in collaboration with the Maryland County Authorities. Speaking on the topic “Peace-building, Reconciliation and Security in Mary-

land County” Msgr. Gaye said, “peace-building is the phase of the peace process that takes place in line with peace making and peace keeping. The process of peace-building facilitates the establishment of durable peace and tries to prevent the recurrence of violence by address-ing root causes and effects of conflict through reconciliation, institution building, and political as well as economic transformation.” Speaking about reconciliation, Msgr. Gaye said reconcilia-tion after violence plays an indispensible role in peace theory. Quoting Galtung, Msgr. Gaye said that reconciliation can be thought of as the res-toration of a state of peace to human relation-ship, where the individuals are at least not harming each other , and can begin to be trusted not to do such in the future, which means that revenge is forgone as an option. To ensure peace-building, reconciliation, and secu-rity in Maryland County, the Diocese of Cape Palmas in collaboration with Tubman University has developed a training on Trauma Healing & reconciliation, where 42 participants graduated from a eleven month program about two years ago, Msgr. Gaye said. He continued, “as the contribution of the diocese to the process of peace building, reconciliation and security, we carry out legal education, human rights educa-tion, conduct small skill mediation, do advocacy, conduct skills training in trauma healing and reconciliation, and network with relevant NGOs as well as the government of Liberia”. In his concluding statement, the Vicar General said, a society’s religious network can play an impor-tant role in establishing social and moral norms. Networking, he said, is one of the keys to sus-tainable peace and sustainable peace ensures lasting security.

Also speaking at the conference, Mrs. Edwina Vakun-Lincoln, Director of the Division of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry spoke on the impor-tance of the business community –small, micro and medium enterprises- working together to help ensure growth and development of not only Maryland County, but also Liberia.

Mr. Eli Tubman, spoke on the topic “Maryland Rising: A Vision for Reconstruction, Reconcilia-tion and Economic Growth”. He stated that if development was to truly come to Maryland,

Cape Palmas Herald

History

The Diocese of Cape Palmas is located in South-eastern Liberia. It comprises of five counties: Maryland, Grand Kru, Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, and River Gee Counties with the total population of ap-proximately 481,908 inhabitants. Its catholic population is 15,863. At present, there are ten functional parishes with several outstations. On February 2,1950, it became a Vicariate. On May 7,1962 it was elevated to a Vicariate Apostolic and on December 19,1981, it was created as a diocese.

Msgr. Gaye

Pastoral & Social Strategic Planning Committee

Installed

His Excellency, Most Rev. Andrew Jaygaye Karnley has es-

tablished a Diocesan Pastoral and Social Strategic Planning

Committee in his diocese. Speaking to the Cape Palmas Her-

ald, Bishop Karnley said that the committee is mandated to

work with parishes, departments and institutions to craft a

short and long term vision for the Diocese of Cape Palmas.

In so doing, Bishop Karnley said: “ the committee shall re-

structure the Diocesan Pastoral Conference (DPC) with a

new vision, and prepare for the hosting of a Diocesan Pas-

toral and Social Strategic Planning Conference within 12 to

18 months.”

Those appointed by Bishop Karnley in consultation with his

consulters on March 30,2012 are : Sr. Philomena Godfrey,

SHF, Chairperson, Mr. P. Mike Jurry, Vice Chairperson, Mr.

Solo Otto Gaye, Secretary, Mrs. Regina Torpor, Member, Mr.

Charles S. Chea II, Member, Rev. Fr. Foster Gardiner, Mem-

ber, Msgr. Melvin Nyanti Gaye, Member, and Rev. Fr. Ted

Hayden, SMA, Advisor.

Meanwhile, the committee was installed on May 30, 2012 at

the Holy Mass held at the St. Theresa Cathedral. Speaking to

the press, Sr. Philomena Godfrey called on committee mem-

bers to take the task very serious so as to achieve the goal

for which the committee was organized. She then called on

parishes, departments and institutions to work in close co-

operation with the committee for a successful implementa-

tion of its mandate. The committee has since begun its

work.

Volume 1, Issue 3

Renewal Ministries Conduct Seminar &

Revival in the Diocese of Cape Palmas

A cross section of priests, religious, catechists and

some laity of parishes of the Diocese of Cape Pal-

mas had the experience of being participants at a

seminar on the Catholic model of deliverance called

the UNBOUND. This model of deliverance is based

on five keys: Repentance and Faith, Forgiveness,

Renunciation, Command , and Blessing. The semi-

nar was facilitated by Lloyd and Nancy Greenhaw of

Renewal Ministries based in Ann Arbor, Michigan ,

U.S.A.

Renewal Ministries in collaboration with the Catho-

lic Charismatic Renewal of Ghana and Liberia also

conducted a four day revival in the St. Theresa Ca-

thedral in Cape Palmas . The revival was well at-

tended.

As an outcome of the revival, the exposition of the

Blessed Sacrament is now taking place in the Cathe-

dral from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM on Wednesdays. The

revival and seminar were held from March 10-14,

2012.

Members of the Strategic Planning Committee

Members of the Renewal Ministries and Charismatic Renewal of

Ghana & Liberia pose with Bishop Karnley

Boosting Education in Liberia Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas makes strides in South-eastern Liberia

disclosed that the secretariat operates the school system from funds generated from school fees paid by students; an amount that does not ably caters to the payment of teachers salaries and needed materials for the schools. Another emerging challenge is the recent increment in salaries of teachers of public schools in Liberia. This, according to Sr. Jappah, has increased the outflow of teachers from the system thereby increas-ing the burden.

Speaking in terms of donors, she lauded MISEREOR for supporting a 3 year project which will build the capacity of teachers, provide science laboratory equipments for 4 high schools, renovate 3 schools, provide essential text books for all diocesan schools and a vehicle for school monitoring and supervision..

The Education Secretariat of the Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas has provided sound and quality education for people of the southeast since it was founded. Prior to the civil unrest in Liberia it was known as one of the best. In the 60s and 70s the Catholic School System also ran a college that pro-duced many prominent persons who have contributed and are contributing to the well being of society. Currently, the Diocese is comprised of 5 counties, namely: Sinoe, Grand Gedeh, River Gee, Grand Kru and Maryland. There are 4 major high schools, St. Joseph in Greenville, Sinoe, Bishop Juwle in Zwedru, Grand Gedeh and St. Francis and Our Lady of Fatima in Pleebo and Harper cities in Maryland County.

“The idea is to add on government’s efforts to build the minds of our young people who are the future leaders. The diocese also develops the mind of people as one of its humanitarian efforts,” Sr. Philomena said.

The Education Secretariat of the Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas in south-eastern Liberia has been one of government’s key partners in terms of providing sound and quality education to its citizens, es-pecially in South-eastern Liberia.

Currently, the secretariat operates about 12 schools with (5,620 students)2,900 males and 2,720 females, ages ranging from 3 to 24years attending. These stu-dents include young people from differ-ent nations, Christian denominations, and religions. Currently, there are stu-dents from Guinea, Ghana, as well as students from the Philippines within the school system. These schools include ‘day care’, elementary, junior and senior secondary schools in the south-eastern region of Liberia. According to Sr. Philo-mena Jappah, Assistant Secretary for Finance, Training and Administration at the secretariat, there are three additional schools undergoing scrutiny to be incor-porated in the systems soon. Also with the help of the SMA another school has been built in Hoffman Station, a popu-lated community outside of Harper city, Maryland County named in honor of the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese, Boniface Nyema Dalieh. This school is expected to begin classes in September 2012 with an initial status of KG to 3rd Grade.

With the newly transformed Tubman University in the region, more young people are being motivated to complete

high school to further their education. Completing high school is not all, but having the sound and quality educa-tion that smoothens the way to higher institutions of learning and preparing the mind for future challenges is what the nations and parents yearn for, a challenge the secretariat is faced with.

Sr. Philomena Jappah explained how the secretariat is preparing to face this great challenge. “We have in place a periodic capacity building plan for our teachers to improve skills and add on their knowledge in the various sub-jects. They also attend the rural teach-ers training programs organized by government ,partners, and the educa-tion secretariat. We also provide mini reading rooms for our students and closely monitor the teaching proc-esses to ensure people adhere to the policies and guidelines provided by both the government and the dio-cese”. In furtherance of their plan, a special one month training session is to be held in Harper, Maryland County from July to August 2012 for about 50 teachers within the Catholic School System. Topics to be taught include counselling and testing, various meth-ods and teaching strategies, educa-tional psychology, professional ethics, catholic doctrines and Christian princi-ples and key subjects such as Lan-guage Arts and Mathematics.

Despite these efforts, Sr. Jappah un-derscored many challenges faced by the secretariat in carrying out its du-ties and mandate. She named the exit of qualified teachers from the system in search of higher salaries; the insuffi-ciency of books and other materials; the lack of computer and other sci-ence laboratories, and the need for scholarships for needy and deserving students. She also stressed the need for an active Parents and Teachers Associations in every school to en-courage students stay in school. She

Cape Palmas Herald

Sr. Philomena Jappah, Assistant Edu-cation Secretary for Administration

Volume 1, Issue 3

Bishop Karnley reopens the Mission in Sasstown

The Diocese of Cape Palmas has officially reopened the Christ the King Parish located in Sasstown, Grand Kru County on March 24, 2012. Speaking at the official reopening of the parish, Most Rev. Andrew Karnley called on the faithful to work in close collaboration with their pastor, Rev. Fr. Nathaniel Kumeh . The mission in Sasstown had no priest in residence since 1994. According to Fr. Nathaniel Kumeh, there is more work to be done in Sass-town with the church destroyed and no presbytery for the priest. The priest is presently residing in a private home given to the Church by the family of Fr. Blamo Harris, SDB. “The challenges here are very high, there is a need to construct a new presbytery, rehabilitate the church and school and reinforce the teaching of catechism,” Fr. Kumeh told the Herald the church was established in Sasstown by the SMA Fathers in 1911.

In Buah, a large number of Catholics gathered to meet their bishop for the first time. Parishioners were amazed to meet and discuss with their bishop. One parishioner said, “it has been over ten years since a bishop had ever visited this region. Today is a great day because the people of God are meeting their Shepherd for the first time since his enthronement in April 2011.”.The two churches in Buah are inaccessible due to the deplorable road con-dition. Speaking to the laity, Bishop said he was in Buah to see for himself the prevailing pastoral situation on ground and to meet the people he has been called to shepherded. As the tradition of the people of South-eastern Liberia demands, Bishop Karnley and his delegation were served with kola nuts and water as a sign of welcome.

In Betu, Bishop Karnley and his delegation paid a surprising visit. He and his delegation inspected church proper-ties and visited the graves of the first SMA Missionaries who died in Betu as early as the 1900s. According to some reliable sources, it is believed that the Church was first planted in Betu and this place is the cradle of Catholicism in Liberia.

Fr. Kumeh also stressed the need for more support to the mission in Sasstown. “I have to ride my motor bike sometimes for about two hours to reach some stations and when the bike has mechanical problems, I walk” he told our reporter. He also called on people from this region to give back to the local church.

Bishop Karnley was accompanied on his pastoral journey by Mr. Solo Otto Gaye, Mr. Abraham B. Wesseh, and Sr. Philomena Godfrey,SHF.

From Left To right: Fr. Kumeh, Sr. Godfrey, Bishop

Karnley, & Mr. Gaye

Greaves of Early SMA Missionaries who died in Betu

Catholic Diocese of Cape Palmas

E-Newsletter

Joan Sieh, a 22 years old mother walked out of the Sacred Heart Clinic with smile beaming on her face. She and her 2 year old son have just received an emergency treatment for cholera. “I woke up this morning with the pains in my stomach, after little time I started vomiting and my child started crying, both of us went in the latrine more than two times. I was brought here by my brother, but I am ok now”, she explained.

This is just one scenario of the hundreds of cases catered to by the 5 Catholic clinics spread out in rural counties of south-eastern Liberia. These clinics carry out many services ranging from consultations, PMTCT, MCH, basic laboratory services, and regular and emergency treatments and referrals eight hours a day, five days a week. According to records from these clinics, they cater to more than 10,000 patients monthly with various cases including emergency deliveries, HIV/AIDS counselling and testing, post and prenatal cares, malaria, sexually transmitted infections and diseases, natural family planning methods, various vaccinations and many others. According to the Coordinator of Catholic Health Services (CHS) in the Diocese of Cape Palmas, Sr. Edith Wallace, ser-vices are provided for minimum fees as compared to other private clinics around the country. “We have professional staff and run a fee for service but at a minimum cost. This is intended to make these clinics self dependent should donors funding stop in the future”, she said. Sister Wallace named some partners of the clinics to be the government of Liberia through its National Aids Con-trol program (NACP) and some financial aid provided at times; MISEREOR Germany for providing drugs and other supplies and the Lutheran World Services (LWS) through counselling trainings provided for staff of the clinics.

She disclosed that with the help provided by these partners the CHS is providing Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission (PMTCT) services of HIV/AIDS in two of its clinics in Maryland alone. These clinics include Sacred Heart in Harper and Saint Francis in Pleebo. She added that Saint Francis Clinic has a ‘Support Group’- people living with HIV- of 100 members. “They attend regular counselling sessions, we also give ARTs and the cotrim as the need arises”.

The coordinator of CHS also disclosed that teenage pregnancy and high rates of female contraction of HIV are major issues her clinics are faced with. Regular counselling and health talks on family planning, STIs and STDs prevention, hygiene promotion and other that are held at these clinics appear not to be sufficient to address these issues. The CHS also runs mobile clinic for HIV test-ing and other health matters to help minimize the HIV infection rate in the region.

Despite these efforts it is obvious that these clinics are faced with numerous challenges as they strive to make Liberians healthy. As Sr. Edith Wallace explained there is a need for more support. “Generally, we need funds. Finance is the key but we appreciate other medical supplies such as laboratory equipment, solar freezers for vaccines, CD4 count machines that determine the level of HIV infections in people and as many drugs as we can have. We also need ambulances and cars to enhance our movements.”

She also disclosed that her clinics are faced with the problem of employees exit in search of higher salaries. According to the CHS Coordinator, the bad roads during raining season also hamper movement amongst the counties in which these clinics are located.

Managing health facilities with challenges like the ones measured is tedious and stressful, a task Sr Edith Wallace and her staff em-

brace to serve humanity. “We are motivated by the fact that we are serving humanity and contributing towards government’s ef-

forts to save lives and make our people live healthy”, Sr. Wallace said.

Serving Humanity with Dignity

-Catholic Health Services Put Smiles on Faces-

Sr. Edith Wallace, SHF, Heath Coordinator


Newsletter

Catholic Health Services Activities in Photos

Maternal & child health activities, Sacred Heart Clinic, Harper In-service training, Christ the King, Zwedru

Anti AIDS Club in Schools HIV Program T-Shirts

HIV/AIDS Awareness Mobile Testing


Newsletter

Priestly Ordination in Photos - January 7,2012


Newsletter

Final Religious Profession in Photos -January 8,2012


Newsletter

.

Renewing the Infrastructure of the Diocese of Cape Palmas

The seemingly daunting and challenging task of renovating and even reconstructing the damaged infrastruc-tures of the Diocese of Cape Palmas is one of the priorities of Bishop Andrew J. Karnley. This process has al-ready begun with the renovation of the Diocesan Secretariat in Harper and Convent of the Schools Sisters of Notre Dame in Zwedru. Other works already in progress are the renovation of the presbytery in Harper and a building for the establishment of a nursery in Pleebo by the Sisters of the Holy Family. Rev. Fr. John Guiney has provided funding for the renovation of the chapel in Bonike. Bricks are being made for the construction of a new presbytery in Zwedru. The construction of the presbytery in Zwedru is being funded by Missio Aachen, and the American Province of the Society of African Missions.

MISEREOR will fund the renovation of three schools in the diocese, namely: Our Lady of the Angelus in Zlehtown, Grand Gedeh County, St. Patrick in Grandcess, Grand Kru County, and St. Joseph in Greenville, Si-noe County. Renovation is already in process on the school in Zlehtown.

OPAM in Rome, Italy, has approved funding for some basic renovation of St. Peter Claver School in Barclay-ville while Kindermissiowerk in Aachen, Germany will fund the renovation of the kindergarten in Grandcess.

Meanwhile, funding is being sought for other places around the diocese.

The Conference Room of the newly renovated

Diocesan Secretariat Side view of the renovated Diocesan Secretariat

Front view of the renovated convent in Zwedru Sitting room of the renovated convent in Zwedru

Congratulations!!!!!!

Heartfelt Congratulations to Bishop Andrew J. Karnley as he cele-brates his first anniversary of his Episcopal Ordination on April 30.2011. Bishop Karnley was born on 26 April 1967 in Jawajeh Varney Bohn,Bomi County, North-western Liberia.He was ordained to the priesthood on 9 July, 1995 at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. From 2005-2009, was appointed by the Holy Father as Apostolic Administrator Sede Plena of the Archdiocese of Monrovia.On 5th January 2011, he was appointed by the Holy Father as Bishop of the Diocese of Cape Palmas.

Philippians 4:13, “I have

the strength to face all conditions by the power

that Christ gives me”.


Newsletter

follow us on facebook @

http://www.facebook.com/groups/171911256195

Cape Palmas Herald is the official Newsletter of

the Diocese of Cape Palmas

Managing Editor : Solo Otto Gaye

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +231-886333-194

Production Center: Diocesan Secretariat, Harper,

Liberia, West Africa

If you wish to discontinue receiving emailed copies of this Newsletter, please email : [email protected]

Inspirational Quote

“It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our Creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true.”

Pope Benedict XVI

Bishop Karnley crossing River Gbartuah to reach the Faithful in Betu, Grand Kru County. SMA Missionaries arrived in Betu as early as 1900.

Upcoming Event: The Silver Jubilee of Sr. Edith Wallace, SHF. Date: August 5,2012. Venue: St. Theresa Cathedral @ 10:00 AM, Harper, Liberia

RVSP: +231-886-425-339/ +231-886-601-606

vol. 1 issue 3 herald newsletter

Spiritual