Cardinal Turkson includes Meath in his WMOF itinerary

Ahead of his participation at the World Meeting of Families, Cardinal Peter Turkson visited the Diocese of Meath on Tuesday 21 August.

Later this evening, he celebrates the liturgy for the Opening of the World Meeting of Families in Carlow.

The Cardinal, who serves as Prefect of the Dicastery for Integral Human Development, will act as moderator at a presentation in the RDS entitled “The Vocation of the Business Leader: A Family Business Perspective”.

The panelist will be:

  • Valentine Fievet, Vice-Chairperson of the Supervisory Board at Unibel, S.A.
  • Dr Gordian Gudenus, Partner and Director of Bank Gutmann Ag, Vienna, Austria
  • Santiago Peralta and Carla Barboto, Co-founders of Pacari Chocolate, Ecuador.

The panel will discuss the vital role of leadership in the world of commerce from a family business perspective.

Several priests from Ghana have served in the Diocese of Meath over the past 10 years and Cardinal Turkson wished to express his appreciation to Bishop Smith for the solidarity and friendship they have experienced.

Born in 1948 in Ghana, Cardinal Turkson studied theology at St Anthony-on-Hudson Seminary in New York and was ordained a priest in 1975. He did graduate studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, 1976-80 and 1987-92. In 1992 he was appointed Archbishop of Cape Coast by St John Paul II and made Cardinal in 2003. He was President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference 1997-2005, and since 2003 has been Chancellor of the Catholic University College of Ghana. He served as Relator during the II Synod of Bishops for Africa in October 2009. At the end of the Synod, Pope Benedict XVI named Cardinal Turkson as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, reconfirmed by Pope Francis in 2013. Cardinal Turkson has been appointed by Pope Francis as first Prefect of the new Dicastery for promoting Integral Human Development.