Cardinal Dery Legacies (Testament of Fr. Edward B. Tengan 1951 to 2003): Pope John XXIII Centre For Integral Human Development

 

Testament

The following two wishes expressed in my brother’s Last Will and Testament (Fr. Edward B. Tengan 1951 to 2003) are the source of my concern and are provoking this memo and portfolio. Among other things, the will states:

1. Landed Property:

e) Plot and 2 house in Piina where I reside when I am in Piina – To Alexis Tengan to develop his Museum and Cultural Centre

2. Cars

a. GL 24-13

– To Catholic Diocese of Wa - Pope John XXIII Centre

c. GR 9089-7 – To Catholic Diocese of Wa – Pastoral & Soc. Institute

Whereas all other properties bequeath to individuals carry no intentionality in terms of their usage and expenditure, in bequeathing these three items, clear intentions are expressed by linking them to particular institutions that are providing social services to the whole community. Perhaps, it was because of this character that these items carry, that he parked the two cars in the family home, expecting me to take proper care of them after his demise. With retrospect and given the way the car meant for Pope Johan XXIII has been handled up to now, I realise that this memo and portfolio should have accompanied the item to facilitate its appropriation and use. The sequence of events and their timing did not give me an opportunity to think clearly. The unexpected appointment of Edward as Diocesan administrator following the sudden death of Cardinal Baawobr and the manner of Edward’s own death did not lend to clarity of thinking and proper actions on my part. After going through Edwards files and other documents that are within my possession, I have come to realise the proper role I should play in ensuring that his legacy, which is tied to so many others, is further enhanced for the good of all.

Pope John XXIII Centre

Origins (In Memory)

Figure 1: Cardinal Poreku Dery Third Colloquium (13-15 August 2015) in De Cleen - Dery Library, Wa

Through intimate family and personal relationships, I am aware that the idea and concept to establish Pope John XXIII centre in Wa diocese grew from the adoptive family relationships between Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery, The De Cleene family in Belgium and Fr. Edward B. Tengan. The background and how the relationships were experienced are not relevant here. Of

relevance are the visible and invisible funding aids to several projects within the Tamale ecclesiastical province made through the family heritage and collaborative efforts of these three individuals. The most visible completed projects in our diocese include the “De Cleene – Dery Library”, “Priest/Staff House” (both in the Social and Pastoral Institute) and the establishment of the institutional structures of Pope John XXIII centre. 

In May 2005, Fr. Edward send out this email to a number friends with a flyer attached:

Dear friend,

I send you greetings from Wa. Our grandfather, Most Rev. Peter P. Dery asked me to send you the attached in order to solicit your comments and advice on a Centre he wants to establish in honour of his father, Blessed Pope John XXIII. As the project is still in its initial stages, he would like to have the honest opinion of a wider public and of people who have worked closely with him. You have therefore been personally contacted with the hope that you will give us your honest personal opinion on the project. We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Edward B. Tengan (Coordinating Secretary)”

Figure 2: Dery with The De Cleene Family - Brussel 1958

Dery with the De Cleene Famliy (Brussels 1958).

This email did not come to me as a surprise. I was doing fieldwork in northern Ghana during the year (1993-94) of Dery’s retirement as Archbishop of Tamale and throughout the period, I worked closely with Dery and Edward on how he wanted to secure his life and continue his pastoral ministry as priest and Archbishop including works on his memoires and legacies. These meetings gave birth to such ideas as the formation of a foundation for human development in Dery’s name, continued contacts with personal relations within and outside Ghana for material and social support, proper documentation of his life works including the writing of a memoire and others. The first task, I was charged with was to make a video recording of Archbishop Dery talking to his friends and benefactors through Madam Marcelle De Cleene on the need for continued support of his life and works.

I am aware through personal relationship with Marcelle De Cleene that, independent of these appeals, the family De Cleene had written into their Will Testament part of their own inheritance to be given to Dery as personal property and income. The initial significant transfer of funds went through church organisations to the Arch diocese of Tamale which later caused some frictions between Dery and the then prelate regarding ownership and disbursements. This was only resolved when the De Cleene family intervened and redirected the rest of the payment to Dery’s personal account. This allowed him to use this grant as seed money to establish Pope John XXIII Centre.

Foundations and the Spirit of the Youth

In March 2007, I began to work with Peter Cardinal Poreku Dery to make digital copies of his picture collections which he has put together either in albums, or in envelopes or as unrelated singles using a flatbed scanner. The first album he gave me to digitise was on the last pastoral project he had just undertaken. The following image on the envelope bears the original title of the project– Centre for Integral Development: Campus Ministry; Youth Formation. From the pictures, it was clear that several building structures have already been put up or still being constructed. These included a block of flats for staff, a chapel and a block of student rooms.

Staff Flats 2008

As confidant of both Cardinal Dery the De Cleene family, Fr. Edward became the main driving force to ensure that these structures were constructed properly within time schedule. He also went ahead to be part of team responsible for the creation of the social structures to manage and run the centre. Already, in 1999 and working with other, The Archbishop Dery Foundation for Human Development was set up. Following his death in 2008 it became the Cardinal Dery Foundation for Human Development with a renewed vigour making the secretary to Fr. Paul Bekye to issue the following e-mail:

Chaple 2008

Friends,

A Foundation has already been established in honour of the late Cardinal. Find attached some information on it. Perhaps the publicity has not been as wide as it ought to have been. But from now, it is going to be intensified. Already, some friends of the Cardinal in the US, who are staunch supporters of the Cardinal Dery Foundation have already given five scholarships to students of five schools in northern Ghana, namely one each to Xavier, Piina Sec., Nandom Sec, St. Francis Girls, and Notre Dame Sec. Persons who would like to contribute to the Foundation, or who would like to share with others information on the Foundation can do so.

I happen to be the Secretary of the Body of Trustees, Mr. Mark Attabeh is the Chairman, Fr. Edward Tengan is a member, Dr. Gyader is a member, Mr. Arcadius Eredire is the treasurer, Bishop Lucas is a member, Mrs. Kasise (Navrongo) is a member, Prof. George Benneh is a member, others are Mr. Benard Moro (Accra), Lawyer Musah, Tamale, and Mr. Mensah-Aidoo, Accra.

As time goes on, more information will be shared with you on the Foundation.

The legacy of the Cardinal cannot be allowed to die. Moreover, the Wa Diocese has decided that each Parish should have a funeral Mass in honour of the Cardinal after the funeral in Tamale. These will be climaxed by a common funeral celebration in Wa Cathedral on May 3rd. People are also encouraged to write tributes or write testimonies which shall eventually be compiled into a Book of Testimonies in memory of the Cardinal. If anyone therefore intends to write a tribute, or send a personal testimony, he/she can do so, and send it either to me or to Fr. Tengan. Feel free to append your name, or if you do not wish to do that, just send in the testimony of your experience of the Cardinal, what you think of him, how he has touched your life, or what you would like the Cardinal to be remembered for. Pass the message on and let us all contribute to keep the memory of the Cardinal alive now and always. Such testimonies may come in very handy should there one day be initiated the process of the sainthood of the Cardinal.

Warm regards,

Fr. Bekye.

Administration and Leadership

One of the last acts Cardinal Dery did before his death in March 2008 and on the recommendation of Fr. Edward Tengan was to approve the appointment of Brother Albert Ketelaars. The following statement forming part of Bro. Ketelaar’s biography testify to his experiences in Ghana and his qualification for the job.

In 1966 he gained admission into UCD (University College Dublin) - Ireland where he obtained a BA general (English, Mathematics and French) to enable him be a professional teacher in Senior High Schools Upon this he was posted to Ghana in 1970, where he taught in Nandom Secondary School and took over as Headmaster in April 1971. He did this job until January 1983 when he was elected to be Provincial Superior of the Brothers FIC in Ghana. He fulfilled this post until August 1994 when he was elected to be the General Superior of the Brothers FIC. This job took him back to The Netherlands where the FIC headquarters are located.  He did this job for 12 years until 2006. After a sabbatical in 2007, he was appointed back to Ghana Province where on request of the Diocese of Wa he became the Director of the Pope John XXIII Centre for Integral Human Development. This Centre is located closely to the Wa Campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS). The purpose of this Centre is to provide some extra-curricular formation to students. That is why the Centre runs a hostel facility for 120 students to establish intense contact with students. At the end of 2016 he resigned with the intention to repatriate.

From the beginning of March 2008, Albert initiated a tour around Europe to personally inform patrons of this project the impact he hoped to bring to it as administrator. He returned to Ghana and started work at the centre. Around the same period, Fr. Cletus Segtub became attached administrator in the university registry. He began to collaborate with Bro. Ketelaars, above all, in the provision of spiritual guidance to students. For the eight years they worked together, more infrastructure buildings were put including a multi-purpose hall for conferences and assemblies and an Information and Communication Centre. These structures including the student residential hall, were designed to make the centre self-reliant economically.

In January 2017, soon after the departure of Bro. Ketelaars, Bishop Richard appointed Cletus as the new director of the and a new board of directors was inaugurated.

 

Pope John XXIII Centre for Integral Human Development, a brainchild of Peter Cardinal Porekuu Dery for the Youth, has a new Board to administer the Centre. After having been led by Bro Albert Ketelaars FIC for 8 years (since its foundation) it is now directed by Fr. Cletus Segtub. Thanks Albert Ketelaars for the commitment over the years. Good luck to Cletus! There is still some work to be done on the multipurpose hall”

(Richard Baawobr, Facebook Post 20 Jan 2017):

 Legacies: Death and Afterlife

In an Encyclopaedia article, I made the following remark:

“Death and the afterlife are two concepts that have always gone hand in hand in African cultural thought and practices as well as in the African mode of philosophical reflections and religious beliefs. The core meanings of these concepts, as retained in tradition and carried through the diverse cultural histories of Africa, relate to a general notion that all life, and not just human life, is commonly owned and shared by all living organisms and species. African tradition also holds that solidarity based on interdependence and the fostering of harmonious and culturally appropriate relations not only with one humankind but with all life forms within a common sphere of life encounter will ensure proper or good death at the most appropriate time. A good death will consequently ensure the most suitable and comfortable position among one's ancestral kin in the afterlife or the world of the living dead”. (Alexis Tengan 2010 Death and Afterlife.)

It is my firm belief that it is in the interest of the living to continue to foster a great sense of solidarity with the living dead through the proper management of the legacies they have left behind. Proper management go beyond the upkeep of material objects as museum pieces; but to also focusing on the ideas and values behind the acquisition and possession of these items as personal property. A house, a car, a shirt or any item bequeathed to an individual as part of a legacy becomes a communal item with ancestral ownership and turns that person to whom it has been bequeathed a simple custodian and not a property owner. The items itself, the very nature of its creative existence, becomes a religious and sacred object associated with the ancestral shrine. All societies and communities tend to build their unique cultural heritage, tangible and intangible, through scientific collection, documentation and preservation of such items and the ideas embedded in them; and presenting them to others as a reflection of themselves. A society that loses its heritage cannot know its identity both in the past and the present and cannot construct a destiny based on its unique values.

Since the 1990s, the above belief of mine has driven me to engage in several research and practical projects with the objective of identifying and documenting the tangible and intangible archival institutions and materials of the societies of Northern Ghana in order to build a comprehensive and integral heritage movement of cultural and philosophical discourses within the global context of religious and Church formation and evangelization. It was obvious to me then, and still is, that an approach that will best help me realise this project was to insert my ideas into a thematic program of studying and documenting individual biographies and legacies. Among other cases, that of Cardinal Dery and my own family biography through the study of Dagara Bagr remain the most encompassing biographies for understanding the greatest historical events for the current two centuries of our times – (1850 to 2050).

The Alpha and The Omega: Integration of Cardinal Dery Legacies

It is now two years since the death of my brother during which time I became head of the extended family charged with implementing his testament stipulations. I am grateful to the Bishop of Wa Diocese for ensuring that the will testament has been properly executed including the transfer of the institutional items of two houses to my custody and the two cars to the Pastoral Centre and Pope John XXIII centre respectively. As pointed out above, the institutional nature of these three items requires that those of us, in whose name the objects were transferred remain mere custodians with a great amount of responsibility. Hence, in my case, I have become a custodian of two houses charged with the responsibility of integrating them within my larger project of developing a cultural/documentation centre with Cardinal Dery memory collection as one focus. It is evident to me that one of my responsibilities in this, is the academic integration and documentation of all Dery’s legacies for proper dissemination to the national and international public. My unique experiences and intimate background knowledge to most of the projects initiated by Cardinal Dery means that I should continue to inset myself in diverse ways in the different institutions as a resource person of some kind. Hence, in the Pastoral Centre, I should continue to work, through the bishop’s office, with the director and the staff in the area of dissemination of knowledge through symposia, workshops and publications. To this end, I took contact with the current director soon after he had assumed office. The sudden deaths that hit us all, did not allow us to develop concrete plans in this direction.

Ss Peter and Paul Pastoral Centre in Wa was “the Alpha”, the first significant pastoral institution Cardinal Dery initiated when he became bishop of the newly created diocese in 1960; and Pope John XXIII Centre is “the Omega”, the last most significant pastoral project initiated by Cardinal Dery a few years before his death. Perhaps it is “By Divine Providence” – a popular thought of Cardinal Dery – that Fr. Edward Tengan should make this gesture at this time. A time when the direct impact of the pioneer generations that led us from our Traditional way of life into the path of Catholicism is about ending and as we enter into a liminal period of doubt and uncertainty. It appears the gesture is a call to those entrusted with these legacy items to, using the resources of the institutions they head, to find and lead Catholicism in new directions required.

I write this memo for all those who might be concerned and/or interested in reflecting about these legacy issues entrusted to us by our pioneers.

Dr. Alexis B. Tengan

Tengan Foundation (vzw)

Independent Scholar in Anthropology