WELCOME ADDRESS BY SR. LUCY HOMETOWU, SMMC PRESIDENT, CONFERENCE OF MAJOR SUPERIORS OF RELIGIOUS - GHANA (CMSR-GH) AT THE REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF MAJOR SUPERIORS OF WEST AFRICA (RECOMSWA) ON FRIDAY 13TH MARCH 2026 AT THE CHIRISTIAN VILLAGE, KUMASI, GHANA. P • Your Excellency, Most Rev. Mathew Kwasi GYAMFI, President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops' Conference • Your Grace, Most Rev. Gabriel Justice Yaw ANOKYE, Metropolitan Archbishop of Kumasi • Your Lordship Most Rev. John Kobina LOUIS, Auxiliary Bishop of Accra Archdiocese and Episcopal Chairperson for Clergy and Consecrated Persons • The Bishop of Anglican Diocese of Kumasi and all leaders of other faith-based denominations • Otumfuo OSEI TUTU II, King of the Ashanteman, the owner of the land, and Nananom present here • Sr. Tiziana MERLETTI, SPF, Secretary to the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Vatican, Rome • Very Rev. Fr. Clement NANDOU, OSB, Official of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Vatican, Rome • Very Rev. Fr. Paul Saa-Dade ENNIN, SMA, President of the Regional Conference of Major Superiors of West Africa (RECOMSWA) and the Executives, and all Major Superiors of Religious Institutes present • The President, Africa Religious Union – Ghana (ARUG) and the Executives • President, National Union of Ghana Diocesan Priests Association (NUGDPA) • Distinguished Partners from Conrad N. Hilton Foundation (Ms Angelique Mutombo, Nana SangBender and Miss Eundria Hill-Joseph), Missio Aachen (Ms Johanna Streit and Miss Nataliia Datskevych) and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) – Dr Francis Gumah. • Hon. Frank AMOAKO HENE, Ashanti Regional Minister, • Members of Parliament, MCEs, DCEs and all political leaders here present, • The Chief Imam of Kumasi Muslim Community • Monsignori, Sir Knights and Dames, Very Rev. Fathers, Major Superiors Consecrated Persons, Delegates, brothers and sisters in Christ, all protocols observed. With great joy and hope, on behalf of the Conference of Major Superiors or Religious Ghana, I welcome you to Ghana and the Ashanti Region for this historic gathering under the theme: “Religious Life for Transformation.” We have gathered at a decisive moment in history. The world is changing rapidly. Our societies are evolving. The Church herself is journeying through renewal. In such a time, Consecrated Life cannot remain on the margins. We are called to stand at the heart of transformation. Transformation is not merely adjustment, it is renewal. It is allowing the Spirit to breathe new life into our charisms. “Send forth your spirit, and they shall be created and you shall renew the face of the earth” (Psalm 104:30). It is refreshing to imagine communities that are more prophetic in spirit, more intercultural in character, more collaborative in practice, and more missionary in purpose. This transformation should not be limited to Ghana, the West African Subregion, Africa, but the whole world.