Peter Appiah Turkson
A Reuters report from the Vatican is indicating that Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson who was touted as becoming the Pontiff when the position became vacant, has resigned from a key department at the Vatican.
The department which he heads at the Vatican, which is a state on its own, is called the Dicastery for Integral Human Development.
It was established in 2016, according to the report, as an amalgamation of four offices charged with managing peace, justice, migration and charities.
He is the only African to head a Vatican Department and so his decision has not gone down well with African watchers of the Catholic State although it is unknown whether the Pope will accept the resignation or not.
At his current age, Cardinal Turkson is a couple of years away from the compulsory retirement age of bishops.
Internal disputes could be a reason behind Cardinal Turkson’s abrupt move, according to Reuters.
Until he hits 80 years, he is eligible to be part of a conclave of cardinals to decide on who becomes the next pope upon the exit of Pope Francis.
He was named by Pope Francis as the first Prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, which began operations on January 1, 2017.
He once served as Archbishop of Cape Coast and eventually made a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
He was considered a papabile, to wit, candidate for election to the papacy. No wonder when the position became vacant upon the departure of Pope John Paul he was one of the possible candidates.
When the smoke billowed from the Vatican signaling that one the conclave had settled on as Pope, Ghanaians as well as other nationals especially in Africa expected him to be the one.
He has been described as one of Africa’s most energetic church leaders. He speaks English, Fante, French, Italian, German, Hebrew, Latin and Greek.
He was born on October 11, 1948 in Wassaw Nsuta in the Western Region to a Methodist mother and a Roman Catholic father.
His mother sold vegetables in the open market while his father worked as a carpenter and his paternal uncle was a Muslim.
He studied at St. Teresa’s Minor Seminary in Amisano and St. Peter’s Regional Seminary in Pedu before proceeding to St. Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in Rensselaer, New York, where he graduated with an M.A. in Theology and a Master of Divinity. He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop John Amissah on July 20, 1975.
By A.R. Gomda