The Wa Catholic Diocese’s Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr has been named a Cardinal of the Catholic Church.
He is one of 21 new cardinals selected by Pope Francis to start office at the Vatican on August, 16 of whom are under the age of 80 and so able to vote in a conclave to choose his successor following his death or resignation.
Bishop Baawobr, a member of the Society of the Missionaries of Africa, is well-known in Ghana and internationally for numerous charitable deeds, the most notable of which is his compassion for those suffering from mental illnesses and who have been neglected by their family.
Volunteers from the Bishop’s project that cares for people with mental illnesses began going out on the streets looking for patients and providing care in 2016, the year the Holy Father appointed him Bishop.
The effort, which includes churches, faith-based groups, religious women and men, and physicians and nurses, has begun to provide free medication.
In a society where persons with mental disorders are stigmatized, the Bishop allegedly began utilizing digital outlets to raise awareness about them.
Born on June 21, 1959, in Tom-Zendagangn, Ko in the Nandon District of Ghana’s Wa Diocese, he attended Tom-Zendagangn Primary School from 1965 to 1972 and the St. Francis Xavier Minor Seminary in Wa from 1971 to 1973.
He attended Nandom Secondary School for his secondary education.
He enrolled as a Diocesan Seminarian at St. Victor’s Major Seminary in Tamale in 1979.
After completing his Philosophical Studies, he felt God’s call to be a Missionary and joined the Society of Missionaries of Africa (M.Afr.) in 1981.
