St. Paul's Catholic Seminary is a

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ian

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

located in

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Greater Accra Region The Greater Accra Region has the smallest area of Ghana's Regions of Ghana, 16 administrative regions, occupying a total land surface of 3,245 square kilometres. This is 1.4 per cent of the total land area of Ghana. It is the List of Ghanaian re ...

. It is in the

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and is dedicated to the philosophical training of seminarians for the

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

s of the Roman Catholic Archdioceses of Accra,

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, and

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 ...

. The seminary is affiliated with the

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, Greater Accra Region. It also admits seminarians from the

Society of African Missions The Society of African Missions (; ), also known as the SMA Fathers, is a Catholic religious society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men founded by Melchior de Marion Brésillac in 1856. They serve the people of Africa and those of ...

and neighbouring countries. Since it was founded in 1988, the seminary has produced more than 500 priests.

History

The idea of setting up St. Paul’s was conceived in 1983 by the Bishops of the erstwhile Ecclesiastical Province of Cape Coast Diocese comprising the then Archdiocese and the dioceses of the southern belt of Ghana. The aim was to separate the philosophy department of St. Peter's Regional Seminary, Pedu, Cape Coast, from that of Theology. This was necessary as there was pressure on the facilities of St. Peter's at the time, due to increasing numbers of seminarians. There was also the need to initiate a spiritual year programme in response to the promptings of

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 ...

. The idea came to fruition when on January 15, 1988, the first batch of seminarians (48 young men) arrived to start the Spiritual Year Programme. Msgr. Rudolph Apietu was appointed the first Rector. Msgr. Michael Obosu became the first Spiritual Director. Sr. Charles Luanga, HDR, and Sr. Alexandrina, HDR, served as matrons. To begin the philosophy programmes, Frs. Stephen Acheampong, John Martin Darko, and Miachael Barima Apau joined the staff. Rev. John Martin Darko was later appointed the first Vice Rector. Frs. Augustine Abizi and Paul Bebodu commuted from Pedu as adjunct professors. Frs. Irvin Yangouru and Joseph Osei Bonsu also joined the staff from the University of Ghana. When in 1992 Msgr. Apietu’s tenure was over, Fr. Francis Abuah Quansah was appointed the 2nd Rector of the seminary. Ten years later, he was succeeded by the then vice rector, Fr. Raphael Osei Soadwah, who was succeeded in 2009 by Fr. Francis Arthur.

Annual activities

Benefactors' Day celebrations

In the second semester of every academic year, the seminary organizes the Benefactors' Day celebrations to celebrate all those who made contributions. The occasion is always attended by a bishop who is a member of the Governing Council of the Seminary. Funds are also raised to support developmental projects in the seminary.St Paul Major Seminary holds Benefactors-Day
.

References

External links

* the seminary's official website *
Information about St. Paul's Catholic Seminary, Ghana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Paul's Catholic Seminary 1988 establishments in Ghana Educational institutions established in 1988 Catholic seminaries Catholic universities and colleges in Ghana Education in Accra

History

Annual activities

Benefactors' Day celebrations

See also

References

External links