The Corpus Christi Catholic Parish at Sakumono, in the Greater Accra Region was on Thursday adjudged the leading subscriber and promoter of the Catholic Standard newspaper.

Members of the Church, who had gathered at the 7th Nuncio Trophy Awards Ceremony, an occasion used to reward loyal readers of the paper, sang and danced while marching to receive the citation and a trophy.

The 7th Nuncio award was established seven years ago by Archbishop George Kocherry, the then Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana to encourage members of the Church to patronize the paper.

An Apostolic Nuncio is the title given to the representative of the Pope in a given country.

The awards ceremony, which attracted Catholics from all over the country, also had the Most Reverend Vincent Sowah Boi-Nai, Bishop of Yendi, Most Rev. Gabriel Mante, Bishop of Jasikan and other reverend Ministers from several parishes as well as Catholic Sisters also coincide with the 70th anniversary of the paper.

The Good Shepard Parish in Tema Community 2, also in Greater Accra was adjudged the second leading subscriber and promoter of the newspaper, making it the 7th time winners of the second place, while the Queen of Queens Parish in Madina, a suburb of Accra was named the third best leading subscriber and promoter of the newspaper.

The Board of the Standard Newspapers and Magazines Limited, publishers of the paper also presented citations to people who had contributed in various ways to the growth of the paper.

These included His Eminence Peter Cardinal Appiah Turkson, Archbishop of Cape-Coast, The Most Reverend Dominic Andoh, Archbishop Emeritus of Accra, Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer Buckle, Archbishop of Accra who has been a one-time editor of the paper and Mr Isaac Fritz Andoh, current Managing Editor of the paper among others.

Other parishes of the Church in the various regions were also awarded for promoting the paper in one way or the other and helping to sustain it.

Most Rev. Boi-Nai, Guest Speaker for the occasion pointed out that public opinion was largely formed and guided through the media, hence the need for the media to promote moral values in society.

He expressed concern about the manner in which the media nowadays easily trample on human dignity and certain values like respect and said the church had to re-discover the Christ-likeness among its members.

In a speech read on his behalf, Mr. Jacob Yirerong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Standard Newspapers and Magazines Limited announced the donation of a trophy by Mrs Theresa Kufuor, First Lady to start a competition in second cycle institutions to encourage the reading of the newspaper by students.

He urged businessmen and women in the church to advertise in the paper to ensure its sustained growth.


Source: GNA