106th Birthday of the SoG Message by CDF Chairperson

June 20, 2024
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I bring you greetings from The Cardinal Dery Foundation. I am filled with nostalgia and excitement to be here to celebrate the birthday of the SoG with you. I recall our annual visits/ pilgrimages with him in the early 2000s. The times spent with him were special and hallowed. He will celebrate mass in the morning with us and his nurses. Then we would have breakfast. After breakfast we will speak and speak till lunch. After lunch we will leave him to rest. He will send for us in the evening and then continue to talk till late. We will then kneel and he will bless us before leaving.

So I have come home. To my father, to bless me.

I recall our visit here to celebrate his 85th birthday in 2003. A whole bus load of sons and daughters of the then archbishop traveled here and joined other sons and daughters to spend the day with him. I recall a song by Celine Dion that we sang for him then as well as present to him on a plaque.

I am sure there are thousands of people whose lives he touched and who would love to join in this chorus. But don’t know how. For example, this morning at Christ the King in accra, a mass was celebrated for him. After mass, Bishop Afrifa, the celebrant asked that members of the Cdf come forward for a blessing. About 5 other ladies joined me for the blessing. They came because they felt a sense of belonging; pride and devotion to the cardinal, yet they are not members of the CDF. I have picked their names and I’m going to get them to register. I know there are several other “members ” of the CDF who want to be related and associated with the Cardinal and continue the work that he did but don’t know how.

The chorus goes :

You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn’t speak

You were my eyes when I couldn’t see

You saw the best there was in me

Lifted me up when I couldn’t reach

You gave me Faith, cos you believed.

I am everything I am because you loved me.

This is where the CDF comes in.

CDF is registered at the Registrar Generals Department, Accra with a Certificate of Registration No. CG062602013 issued on 20th August 2013 as a Company Limited by Guarantee. The Cardinal Dery Foundation was launched on 15th June 2013 at the Jubilee Park in Tamale by His Grace, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Tamale. The Foundation also has a USA registered Affiliate which has been established through the efforts of Mr. William Ato Coleman.

The Foundation has an 11 Member Board of Trustees and a number of Patrons. These currently are:

Ms Theresa Osei Tutu – Chair
Mr Peter Sangber- Dery- Vice Chair
Rev. Fr Sebastian Zaato – Executive Secretary
Mrs Victoria Kunbour = Secretary
Dr Remy Puoru- Treasurer
Prof. Johannes Awudza – Member
Mrs Aba BrewHammond – Member
Mgsr Dr Alex Bobby Benson – Member
Sir Zan Akologu – Member
Sir Ben Assorrow
Mrs Brigid Naazie

The Foundation aims at continuing the works of integral development which the late Cardinal stood for, and these include the following:

Education, especially of the underprivileged youth and women.
Health care, particularly of deprived persons and communities.
Access to clean water
Promotion of Spiritual upliftment of people and vocations to Priesthood, Religious life

and Family life

Promotion of Credit Union, Peace and Reconciliation, Youth and Laity Formation

Over the years, we have focused on sinking bore holes, and helping young ladies with their education. Beneficiaries have been from

5 Dioceses of Navrongo /Bolgatanga, Tamale, Wa, Damangoand Yendi.

I reflect on how much we have done so far and I wish we could do more and to cover all of ghana.. there is so much we can do, not only in education but also in women empowerment. All we need is you and your subscriptions to fuel us.

Membership and Annual Subscription

Membership of the CDF is through annual subscriptions in three categories comprising the following;

Ordinary Member
Associate member
Honorary member

The different categories of members have different levels of subscriptions payable annually as determined from time to time by the Board of Trustees. Currently, membership to any of these categories comes with annual subscription fees as follows:

ORDINARY MEMBER – GHS240
ASSOCIATE MEMBER – GHS2,500
HONORARY MEMBER – GHS5,000

Promoting the Cardinal

We have resumed the annual Cardinal Dery Memorial Lectures . This was being organized by the Pope John XX111 Centre for Human Development in Wa. The last physical lecture was in 2018 – pre/ COVID era, to mark the centenary of the cardinal’s birth. In March and in May, we had 2 virtual talks on the SoG.

We thank all who took part in the viewing of this online lecture. We will continue to do this to keep his memory alive.

The CDF Board and its partners plan to:

Intensify advocacy for the programmes and projects of the Foundation/Beatification process of the Servant of God Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery
Raise awareness to increase membership drive and encourage payment of annual Subscriptions i.e. Ordinary, Associate, Honorary.
Increase efforts towards soliciting local and external donations for the Foundation’s work
Organise more fundraising activities to support the Beatification process.
Continue to solicit support from sponsors/donor organisations to finance the Girl Child Educational Support Project (GCESP)

In April 2024, the CDF also made a formal request to the Catholic Bishop’s Conference to consider granting a day every year to remember the SoG nationwide. We are praying for a favorable response.

My appeal for you is to register as a member of the foundation so we can do the work listed above… This call will be global. But it has to be more local.. After all his blessed remains are here. So please let’s all join forces to make our work lighter and more impactful

Joining the CDF is the only way we can continue to do his works and also promote the cause for his beatification.

Please give your name and contact to Fr Zaato and we will revert.

Thank you for your warm reception.