BOLGATANGA, Ghana — Bishop Lucas Abadamloora of the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga in Ghana died on December 23, a day after his 71st birthday.
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| Bishop Lucas Abadamloora |
The diocese in Ghana is a “partner” with the Diocese of Madison in the Global Solidarity Partnership sponsored by Catholic Relief Services. Bishop Robert C. Morlino of Madison offered his “prayers and most heartfelt condolences” for his death.
“I send too the many prayers of the faithful of Madison . . . who will continue to pray for the repose of his soul and for each of you in our ‘partner’ Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga,” the bishop wrote.
In an interview with the Catholic Herald on a visit to the Diocese of Madison in 2004, Bishop Abadamloora said, “We don’t always appreciate the benefit of international relations and maybe the world would be more at peace if it learned to exchange those values.”
He said, “We as Catholics walk together as a family. I see the partnership in that light, trying to do things together as human beings and Christians.”
The two dioceses have shared ideas in such areas as youth ministry, peace and justice, family life, education, and spiritual renewal. There have been delegations who have visited back and forth over the past seven years. One of the shared efforts has been the Donkey Project, with parishes and schools in the Diocese of Madison raising money for donkeys and equipment to be used by the people in Ghana.
Bishop Abadamloora was president of the Catholic Bishops Conference in Ghana. He died at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, where he had gone to receive medical attention shortly after arriving in Bolgatanga from the Cape Coast.
| To read Bishop Robert C. Morlino’s letter to the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga on the death of Bishop Lucas Abadamloora, click here. |
He was ordained a priest in 1968 and was installed as bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese on June 29, 1994. He was born in Chiana, near Navrongo, in the upper east region of Ghana on December 22, 1938.
When he became a bishop, the HIV/AIDS pandemic was breaking out in Ghana. Almost immediately, he made HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and care one of his major goals. He brought Catholic Relief Services into his diocese to help administer care and prevention services.
Another one of his major achievements was his ability to broker peace with radical Muslims. He became friends with the chief imam of Bolgatanga and this resulted in a peace march of nearly 5,000 Muslims and Christians.
The funeral for Bishop Abadamloora will be January 15 and 16 in Ghana. News reports said many people grieved over the death of this beloved bishop. They described him as a man who “performed his service to God and mankind with great love and compassion.”