Missionaries of Africa elect first African Superior

Fr Richard Baawobr

Fr Richard Baawobr has been elected the new Superior General at the on-going 27th General Chapter of the Society of Missionaries of Africa.

He is the first African and Ghanaian elected to this post since the foundation of the Society in 1868, in Algeria, according to reports from Fr Roger Tessier.

Fr Richard Baawobr was born in Nandom-Lawra, in Northern Ghana, on 21 June 1959. He joined the Society of Missionaries of Africa through his novitiate at Fribourg, Switzerland, in 1981-1982.

He did theological studies at the Missionary Institute, in Totteridge, London and took his Missionary oath on 5 December 1986. He was ordained to the priesthood on 18 July 1987 at Ko, in Ghana and then appointed to Livulu, a parish in Kinshasa Archdiocese, Congo where he worked for four years.

He pursued Scripture studies in Rome for 4 years and afterwards trained in Ignatian spirituality in Chatelard, near Lyons in France.

He served as a member of the formation team in Kahangala, near Mwanza, in Tanzania, from 1996 to 1999. In 1998, he participated in the General Chapter as a delegate for Tanzania.

From 1999 to 2002, he was in charge of the Missionaries of Africa students doing theology in Toulouse, France in 2002. He participated in the 2004 General Chapter as a delegate for France. He was then elected first Assistant General for the term 2004-2010.

Fr Baawobr is also a writer and has put his expertise in Holy Scripture and pastoral experience at the service of Christian communities in Africa through the publication of a series of three pastoral commentaries on the Sunday readings: Bible Study and Sharing on the Gospel for Christian Communities, one for each of the three [A,B,C] Liturgical Years. They are available in English and Kiswahili. His most recent publication is God's Word for Christian Communities, a similar work on the Sunday second readings of the Years B and C. All these books are published by Paulines Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya

The Society of the Missionaries of Africa, also known as the 'White Fathers of Africa,' has 1,541 members, priests and brothers, from 37 countries in five continents. There are 405 candidates in formation. The Society is active in 21 African countries. Outside the African continent, which remains their priority, the Missionaries of Africa are promoting the continent overseas and are at the service of African migrants in Europe and America.

Source: CISA