Peter Porekuu Dery (10 May 1918 – 6 March 2008), originally Porekuu Der,
was a
Ghanaian
The Ghanaian people are a nation originating in the Gold Coast (region), Ghanaian Gold Coast. Ghanaians predominantly inhabit the Republic of Ghana and are the predominant cultural group and residents of Ghana, numbering 34 million people as of ...
prelate of the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
who served as
Archbishop of Tamale from 1974 to 1994, and was elevated to the rank of
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
in 2006. He was the
Bishop of Wa from 1960 to 1974.
The cause for his canonization commenced in mid-2013 and he is now referred to as a
Servant of God
Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
.
Life
Education and early career
Porekuu Der
[ was born in 1918 in Zimuopare in the Ko Parish, the fourth of ten children born to Theodore Porekuu and Agnes Zoore in the house of his uncle Ngmankurinaa.] His birth followed closely upon the death of his immediate older brother. The Dagaare
Dagaare is the language of the Dagaaba people of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. It has been described as a dialect continuum that also includes Wali language (Gur), Waale and Birifor language, Birifor. Dagaare language varies in dialect s ...
-speaking people of North-Western Ghana and Southern Burkina-Faso believe that a male child born not long after the death of his immediate elder brother is the reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...
of the deceased brother and he is given the additional name "Der" to demonstrate that, a practice his pagan
Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...
parents adopted.
He converted to Roman Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and was baptized
Baptism (from ) is a Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by sprinkling or pouring water on the head, or by immersing in water either partially or completely, traditionally three ...
alongside ten others in Jirapa
Jirapa is the capital town of the Jirapa Municipal in the Upper West Region of Ghana.
Institutions
* The only girls' secondary school in the region, St. Francis Girls' Secondary School, is situated in the town.
* Jirapa Senior High School.
* ...
on 24 December 1932. He then changed his name from "Der" to "Dery" and took the name "Peter" in honor of Saint Peter
Saint Peter (born Shimon Bar Yonah; 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle, Simon Peter, Simeon, Simon, or Cephas, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the Jewish Christian#Jerusalem ekklēsia, e ...
. He was then sent to Jirapa to become a catechist, so he could return to his village to teach his people in the Catholic faith.[
Porekuu studied for the priesthood in ]Navrongo
Navrongo is a town and the capital of Kassena-Nankana Municipal District in the Upper East Region of northern Ghana, adjacent to the border with Burkina Faso.
Navrongo is an important market town, known for its cathedral and its grotto. It hou ...
from 1934 to 1939 and then studied philosophy and theology at Saint Victor's Seminary in Wiagha. He received his ordination
Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
to the priesthood at Saint Theresa's Church in Nandom
Nandom is the capital town of the Nandom Municipal District of the Upper West Region of Ghana.
Nandom town and the multiple villages that surround it to the north, south, east, and west are inhabited by the Dagara people. The Dagara of the Nando ...
from Bishop Gérard Bertrand
Gérard Bertrand (born January 27, 1965) is a former rugby union player who represented France, RC Narbonne, and the Stade Français and then retired from rugby to take over the family estate after the accidental death of his father to become a ...
on 11 February 1951.[ He earned a diploma in ]social studies
In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...
from the Saint Francis Xavier college in Antigonish
Antigonish ( ; ) is a town in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The town is home to St. Francis Xavier University and the oldest continuous Highland games outside Scotland. It is approximately 160 kilometres (100 miles) northeast of Hal ...
in Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
in 1958 and his doctorate in theology from the International Catechetical Institute "Lumen vitae" in Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, aided by a scholarship from the Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...
in 1957.[ He returned to Ghana in 1959 and served as parochial vicar in Nandom and then served as the vicar-general for the Tamale archdiocese until 1960.][
]
Bishop
Pope John XXIII
Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
erected the Diocese of Wa on 3 November 1959 and on 16 March 1960 appointed Porekuu its first bishop. He received his episcopal consecration
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
in Saint Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian Renaissance architecture, Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the cit ...
on 8 May from Pope John with Bishops Napoléon-Alexandre Labrie and Fulton Sheen
Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen; May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979) was an Catholic Church in the United States, American Catholic prelate who served as Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, Bishop of Rochester from 1966 to 1969. He was ...
as the co-consecrators
A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop.
The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...
. Porekuu was installed on 10 June. He requested permission from competent ecclesial authorities in Rome to translate the Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
into Dagaare
Dagaare is the language of the Dagaaba people of Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Ivory Coast. It has been described as a dialect continuum that also includes Wali language (Gur), Waale and Birifor language, Birifor. Dagaare language varies in dialect s ...
and have it sung in local melodies with local musical instruments
A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
; having received permission, he composed the first Dagaare Mass
Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
, a milestone in the "Africanization" of the Ghanaian Church.[
Porekuu attended the ]Second Vatican Council
The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...
and focused on the involvement of the faithful
Faithful may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Faithful'' (1910 film), an American comedy short directed by D. W. Griffith
* ''Faithful'' (1936 film), a British musical drama directed by Paul L. Stein
* ''Faithful'' (1996 film), an American cr ...
as well as both education and the promotion of vocations
A vocation () is an occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity.
A calling, in the reli ...
during his tenure. He was remembered in Wa for driving a Datsun saloon car with foodstuffs from Wa to Accra
Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...
on terrible roads just, so he could meet with the families of his old parishioners and to distribute food to people.
He was named the Apostolic Administrator
An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...
of the Tamale
A tamale, in Spanish language, Spanish , is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of ''masa'', a dough made from nixtamalization, nixtamalized maize, corn, which is steaming, steamed in a corn husk or Banana leaf, banana leaves. The wrapping ...
in 1972 and then appointed its bishop on 18 November 1974. He was the first to hold that position who did not belong to a religious order
A religious order is a subgroup within a larger confessional community with a distinctive high-religiosity lifestyle and clear membership. Religious orders often trace their lineage from revered teachers, venerate their Organizational founder, ...
; his predecessors had all been members of the White Fathers
The White Fathers (), officially known as the Missionaries of Africa (), and abbreviated MAfr, are a Roman Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right (for men). They were founded in 1868 by Charles-Martial Allemand-Lavigerie, who w ...
. When Tamale was promoted to the status of a metropolitan archdiocese on 30 May 1977, he was named its archbishop.
From 1982 to 1988, he served as the president of the Ghanaian Episcopal Conference.[ Porekuu attended the Synod of Bishops that ]Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
convoked for 24 November to 8 December 1985,[ where each country had a single representative, which allowed the developing world a strong voice. He told his colleagues of the need for "enculturation", that is, "the process of adapting Catholicism to indigenous traditions". He said: "The Holy See should leave enough scope and sustain the process of inculturation to allow the young churches to grow to full maturity by taking on their own cultural identity in matters of life and worship."] He attended a similar synod in October 1987.[
Porekuu also served two terms on the ]Pontifical Council for the Laity
The Pontifical Council for the Laity was a pontifical council of the Roman Catholic Curia from 1967 to 2016. It had the responsibility of assisting the Pope in his dealings with the laity in lay ecclesial movements or individually, and their ...
during the pontificates of Paul VI and John Paul II.[ He submitted his resignation as archbishop upon reaching the retirement age in 1993. He was first told he would remain archbishop while a successor was identified; not long after Porekuu suffered a ]stroke
Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...
his successor was named on 26 March 1994.
On a visit to Ghana in 1996, the theologian Stephen Bevans reported attending a ceremony in the Tamale cathedral "filled with music and dancing in the way only Africans can celebrate", with "the aging archbishop, Peter Poreku Dary, dancing around the altar as he incensed it in preparation for the gifts".
Cardinal
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...
created Porekuu the Cardinal-Deacon of Sant'Elena fuori Porta Prenestina on 26 March 2006.
Porekuu was in a wheelchair and was lifted onto the dais to allow Pope Benedict to give him his ring.
Death and funeral
Porekuu died in his sleep at his Tamale residence on 6 March 2008.[ He had been bedridden for the last seven months of his life after damaging a hip in a fall in 2007. Following a vigil on 31 March at Jubilee Park, Cardinal ]Peter Turkson
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson (born 11 October 1948) is a Ghanaian Catholic prelate who has served as chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences since 2022.
He was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from 2009 to ...
presided at his funeral on 1 April. The President of Ghana John Kufuor
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the tenth president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009. He was the fifth chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008 and his victory over John Atta Mills at t ...
and Vice-President Aliu Mahama
Alhaji Aliu Mahama (3 March 1946 – 16 November 2012) was a Ghanaian engineer and politician who was Vice-President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. A member of the New Patriotic Party, he was Ghana's first Muslim Vice-Preside ...
attended with Archbishop Peter Akwasi Sarpong of Kumasi
Kumasi is a city and the capital of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country, with a population of 443,981 as of the 2021 census. Kumasi is located in a rain forest region ...
offered the sermon and Felix Owusu-Adjapong, leader of the majority in parliament, delivered a tribute on the government's behalf.[
]
Recognition
Porekuu was granted several awards and recognitions during his life:
* Grand Medal
There are four orders in Ghana: Order of the Star of Ghana, Order of the Volta, Medal for Gallantry and Grand Medal. These were instituted in 1960 as a replacement for the British honours system that was conferred under the Gold Coast and the Dom ...
(civil division) – granted on 13 January 1974.
* Honorary Doctor of Law (from his old college in Canada)
* Order of the Star of Ghana
The Order of the Star of Ghana is the second-highest award given by the Government of Ghana to any individual who had helped the cause of the country in one way or the other. Recipients of this award are decorated at a state function, chaired by ...
– granted in 2007.
Beatification
In June 2013 at a memorial service Mass held in Tamale it was announced that the cause for beatification would be initiated with the formal request lodged to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...
on 15 June 2013.[ The "]nihil obstat
(Latin for 'nothing hinders' or 'nothing stands in the way') is a phrase traditionally used by Catholic Church authorities to formally declare that there is no objection to the publication of a book. It also has other uses.
Publishing
The ...
" (no objections) was declared on 13 July 2013 which allowed for Porekuu to be titled as a Servant of God
Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint.
Terminology
The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
. The diocesan process commenced on 9 May 2015 in Tamale and was tasked with assembling documentation on his life and works as well as collecting testimonies from those who knew the late cardinal. As of June 2016 a total of 45 people had been interviewed as part of the process. Testimonies were heard in Tamale and Damongo as well as in Yendi
Yendi (Dagbani language, Dagbanli: Yani, meaning "Seat of the Yaa Naa"), is the traditional capital of the Kingdom of Dagbon and the administrative centre of the Yendi Municipal District in the Northern Region of Ghana. As of 2021, the populatio ...
and Navrongo-Bolgatanga with successive sessions to be heard in Wa.[
The current ]postulator
A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Observed i ...
for this cause is Dr. Waldery Hilgeman.
References
;Additional sources
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dery, Peter Porekuu
1918 births
2008 deaths
20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ghana
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Ghana
Cardinals created by Pope Benedict XVI
Converts to Roman Catholicism from pagan religions
Ghanaian cardinals
Members of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
Participants in the Second Vatican Council
People from Upper West Region
Recipients of the Order of the Star of Ghana
Ghanaian Servants of God
Roman Catholic bishops of Wa
Roman Catholic bishops of Tamale
Roman Catholic archbishops of Tamale
Ghanaian Roman Catholics
Ghanaian Roman Catholic archbishops