Tribute: TENGAN, EDWARD B. 13/10/1951 to 03/08/2023 (A Gift of Simplicity in Generosity)
Dear Ted,
Edward B. Tengan is
a catholic priest of the Catholic diocese of Wa which is coterminous with the
upper west region of Ghana. After his priestly formation in St. Victor’s Major
Seminary in Tamale he worked for a few years in the diocese. He was then sent
to the Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven where he obtained a Licentiate in
Philosophy in 1983. From 1983 to 1986, he taught philosophy in his alma mater.
In 1986 he gained admission into the University of Birmingham (Centre of West
African Studies) to pursue a doctoral program in anthropology. In 1989, he
successfully defended his doctoral dissertation entitled The Land as Being and
Cosmos which he later published. He returned to teach philosophy and
anthropology in St. Victor’s Major Seminary. In 1996 he spent a sabbatical year
with the Theology Faculty of the Katholiek Universiteit, Leuven to pursue a
Master’s Degree in Theology. He returned to Ghana to continue his apostolate in
the seminary for some time before being sent to a parish for three years. In
2002, he was appointed to the Ss Peter and Paul Pastoral and Social Institute.
Two years later he was appointed Director of the Institute, a position he has
held till now. E. Tengan has published several monographs and articles in
anthropology and theology.
As
a member of our family, we are very proud of you for having done all this and
more within your life as a priest and intellectual and we pay tribute to you
for this. Beyond this, your life and being has touched each one of us in very
unique ways. To pay our tributes to you on this, we can only record a few of
our voices explaining this impact. The impact you had on the wives, the mothers
and sisters summed up in the voice of “Mother Anne” in this way:
“We all called you Teddy. When I was a child, I had a
teddy bear which I use to hold tenderly in my arms. I felt very safe when I
held it in arms. It is odd this image came to me when I first heard of your
death. Maybe it is the most appropriate metaphor for me now. Edward, you were a
person who could make people feel at ease, you were always up for listening
with an attentive ear. You could make jokes but never hurt anybody. Children
would love to be around you. This picture of you in the armchair in Belgium and
all our children in one way or the other on or around you will always stay in
my mind. You gave me such a warm welcome during my first visit to Ghana as a
girl-friend to your brother. The room in St Victor’s was filled with laughter
and joy and I first encountered you. Later you would take me to Damongo and
make sure people would call in from time to time to see how I was doing. You
knew how to fill a child’s hand with some tasty groundnuts; and as the Lord
Jesus says: “those who do not understand a child’s genuine desires will never
enter the Kingdom of God.
With the same curiosity and openness, I saw you do
your research work into different anthropological fields. You selflessly took
care of Archbishop Dery’s legacy without acknowledging your research and
editorial contributions and even when your heart was failing and obliging you
to slow down, you continued to serve the church as good as you could by taking
over Cardinal Richard’s functions. As a
matter of fact, you left us from this world just after completing a pastoral
audience and while still sitting at your desk.
It’s almost as if you wanted to say: “N kyen echɛ wa” (Let me go and
come) Yes! Dear ‘Uncle Edward’, Dear Teddy you will go and come again. You will
not really leave us for you have given us so much already and we know your
spirit will stay with us and help further the beautiful projects of life that
you started. Thank you so much, Dear Edward, we will always remember you.” (An
Debyser – Wife, Mother and House Mother).
To the many cousins, nephews,
brothers and sisters you have left behind, you were the shining star for each
of them. Their daily lives, when the sun rose and when sun set, mirrored what
you did and what you said. Let me insert here a text written by one of them –
Felix.
“Father Edward or
Ted, as he was known to all in the family was the pillar of the Family. He has
touched the lives and hearts of all in the family and without doubt, many people
from far wide. To me personally, not only was he my father, he was also my
closest friend and confidant. He was the anchor that began and sustained my
progress in live and I acknowledge that what I have become today is thanks to
him. I came to know him a man of compassion with philanthropic intentions. He
was full of generosity in all ways; with is material wealth, his intellectual
capital and with his spiritual dispositions. hard working. Fr TED. Loved to
work. He worked so hard until God Called him. I t is not surprising that he
died while working on his desk, with his computer still running.
My uncle was a role
model and a mentor to many people. I witnessed on many occasions how easily
accessible he was to many people; always ready and willing to do his best for
them and to support anyone who needed any kind of support from him. Uncle Edward
has left a huge vacuum in the lives of the entire extended family, and in the
lives of those he had contracted special relationships with. We all visited you
regularly especially these last few years when your health began to fail. We
will miss you, but we all know that the Lord has chosen a timely death for you
so that your life will have a higher purpose”. (Felix Tengan)
To the many people with whom you had contracted special
relationships, you shared them with us as permanent family friends and as they
became part of our family, we also became part of their families. Among all of
these, the family of Bernard D. Moro is unique to you and to all of us. He is
our senior brother, father and grandfather and should have a word of his own.
Since your passing many have called and or written to commend you for who you
are. Let me conclude by inserting the words of one of such family friends – Jan
Dumon of Belgium:
Dear Alexis,
What a terrible sad news, so unexpected: All the
moments I had the chance to stay with Edward are passing through my head, like
a movie. In Belgium with Marcelle, in Wa when I visited bishop Bemile and Wa
diocese, in the Missio-Omnes gentes colloquium where he has given us a splendid
contribution. I share wholeheartedly this painful time with you. Painful,
surely, but also grateful for the gift Edward has been for so many people. He
has not lived for himself; he is not died for himself. That is why we believe
that Edward’s destiny is the same as the one of Jesus Christ; to remain for us
a permanent presence and a light on our way.
In close communion with you and your family I pray that Edward may find
his final destination in the house of God in Love and fidelity (Jan Dumon,
Belgium).
And so, we all pray!
Alexis B.
Tengan
List of Publication – Edward B. Tengan
Books and Edited Volumes
2015. Some Catechists tell their story: The catechists and
the early missionary work among the people of northwestern Ghana. Tamale:
GILLBT Press.
2015. (Ed.). Ministers of the Temporal Order: Reflections
of Cardinal Dery on the Role of the Laity in the Church and Society at Large.
Takoradi: St. Francis Printing Press.
2013 (Ed.). In God's Image: Some Reflections of Cardinal
Dery on the Position of the Woman in the Family and Christian Marriage.
Takoradi: St. Francis Printing Press.
2013 (Ed.). Retreat with Cardinal Porekuu Dery: Some
reflections of Cardinal Dery on our Christian Vocations. Takoradi: St. Francis
Printing Press.
2007. Person-oriented ministry:
The human person as subject and end of pastoral ministry: African Research
and Documentation Centre, Wa.
1997. House of God: Church as family from an African
perspective. Leuven: Acco.
1994. The Social Structure of the Dagara: The House and
the Matriclan as Axes of Dagara Social Organization. Tamale: St. Victor’s Major
Seminary.
1991.The land as being and cosmos: the institution of the
earth cult among the Sisala of northwestern Ghana. Frankfurt am Main; New York:
P. Lang
1983.The personalism of Emmanuel Mounier: a philosophical
response to a crisis of civilization. Unpublished Dissertation, Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven, Leuven.
Articles and Book Chapters
2019. Cardinal Dery on Catechists. In B. B. Assorow (Ed.),
Celebrating the Man Cardinal Dery:
Programme for the climax of the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of
Peter Carrdinal Porekuu Dery (SOD) (pp. 15-18). Tamale: The Catholic
Standard.
2019. Cardinal Dery to the Youth. In B. B. Assorow (Ed.), Celebrating the Man Cardinal Dery: Programme
for the climax of the celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Peter
Carrdinal Porekuu Dery (SOD) (pp. 19-21). Tamale: The Catholic Standard.
2019. Cardinal Dery's Unique Contribution to Educational
Development in Ghana. In B. B. Assorow (Ed.), Celebrating the Man Cardinal Dery: Programme for the climax of the
celebrations of the centenary of the birth of Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery
(SOD) (pp. 25-29). Tamale: The Catholic Standard.
2019. Shifting paradigms in mission: The experience of
Dagara in Northwest Ghana. Paper presented at the Omnes Gentes Internationaal Colloquium, Leuven.
2017. People are my Hobby: The Philosophical Anthropology
of Peter Cardinal Poreku Dery. In A. B. Tengan (Ed.), Religion, Culture, Society and Integral Human Development: Proceedings
of Cardinal Poreku Dery Third Colloquium (pp. 85-102). Legon-Accra:
Sub-Saharan Publishers.
2012. The Church-as-family: An ecclesiology of communion
from an African Perspective. In
E. Babissagana & K. Nsapo (Eds.), Qh'as-tu
fait de ton frère? Mélanges en l'honneur de Mgr Jan Dumon. Munich
- Kinshasa - Paris: African University Studies.
2003. Mission and Cultures. Paper presented at the La
Mission dans tous ses états. Colloque «Omnes Gentes», Leuven et
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
2002. Report on a Research on the Human Person among the
Dagara, Sisala and Kasena, Wa Diocese, n.p Document
2000. Dagara Christian Conversion in Terms of Personal
Memory. In S. Hagberg & A. B. Tengan (Eds.), Bonds and Boundaries in Northern Ghana and Southern Burkina Faso.
Uppsala: Uppsala University Press.
2000. The family model in ecclesiology--a model from
Ghana. In A. J. Gittins (Ed.), Life
and death matters: the practice of inculturation in Africa (Vol. Studia
Instituti Missiologici Societatis Verbi Divini, Nr. 72., pp. 175 pages).
Chicago: Nettetal : Steyler Verlag.
1998. Archbishop
Dery Foundation for Human Development, Foundation Document and Civil
Registration (No. G3099)
1997. “House of God: Church-as-family from an African
perspective”; KU Leuven. Faculteit Theologie en Religiewetenschappen.
1990. The Sisala Universe: Its Composition and Structure. Journal of Religion in Africa, 20(1), 2-19.
1989. “The land as being and Cosmos: the institution of
the earth cult among the Sisala of Northwestern Ghana”. Unpublished Thesis
(Ph.D.), University of Birmingham.
1987. Personalism: A Plea for the Person-Attitude in Life.
In P. Bemile (Ed.), From assistant
fetish priest to archbishop: Studies in honour of Archbishop Dery (pp.
65-84). New York: Vantage Press.
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