The Catholic Archdiocese of Cape Coast has launched an emergency COVID-19 Fund to mobilise resources to cater for the poor and vulnerable in the Central Region.

The proceeds from the fund, to be managed by Caritas, a charitable arm of the church, would be used to seek the well-being of the vulnerable in the over 50 Parishes of the Archdiocese.

The launch formed part of the year-long activities to mark the 140th anniversary of the establishment of the Catholic Church in the Gold Coast.

Reverend Father Stephen Amoagyasi, Director of Caritas Archdioceses of Cape Coast said the plight of the most vulnerable had been heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, hence the establishment of the Fund.

“We have been working around the clock to provide support to those in difficulty during this time, but we want to do more to alleviate the plight of people who are suffering,” he emphasized.

Rev. Father Amoagyasi noted that with the Central Region being one of the poorest region in the country, the impact of the COVID-19 could be dire and stressed the need to put measures in place to mitigate it.

The Archdiocese with financial support from the Rotary Club of Essex, Ontario, Canada and the Carita Ghana, has presented boxes of food items to some vulnerable in Elmina and its environs.

The items include bags of rice, cartons of mackerel, gallons of oil, tin tomatoes among others.

Rev. Father Amoagyasi expressed gratitude to those whose generosity enabled them to give to the vulnerable and urged all to willingly contribute to the fund for the Archdiocese to continue to serve the vulnerable in the society.

Most Rev. Charles Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cape Coast, who launched the Fund, called on individuals, cooperate institutions and agencies to generously donate towards the fund to serve a worthy purpose.

“Let’s pull resources together to support the vulnerable to alleviate their sufferings during this extraordinary times of COVID-19,” he appealed.

The Archbishop announced a week-long prayer crusade in support of the efforts by the Government and frontline workers to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said beginning, Friday, May 22 to Friday May 29, the priests and consecrated members of the Archdiocese would undertake at least one hour adoration of the Blessed Sacrament per day to ask the Lord to deliver the World from the coronavirus scourge.

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle admonished members of the Church and the general public to religiously observe the health protocols adopted by the government to stop the spread of the virus.