Accra, April 3, GNA - His Eminence Peter Cardinal Dery has called for closer partnership between the Church and the State in the shared vision of promoting development through education. "We must work together. We must hold together and avoid being suspicious of each other", he said during a meeting with President John Agyekum Kufuor at the Castle, Osu, on Monday.

He declared that the Church was not there either to pull-down or destroy but to genuinely seek the welfare of the people. This was when a powerful delegation of the Catholic Church, which included Cardinal Peter Kwadwo Appiah Turkson, the Papal Nuncio, Peter Kochery, and Archbishop Palmer Buckle, Accra Metropolitan Archbishop, called at the Castle to express appreciation to President Kufuor for the Government's support during Cardinal Dery's investiture.

Mr Joseph Henry Mensah, the Senior Minister, Professor George Hagan, Chairman of the National Commission on Culture and the Upper West Regional Minister, Mr Ambrose Dery, represented the Government at the ceremony in the Vatican. Ghana's Ambassadors to Italy and the Vatican City joined them.

The 87 year-old Cardinal, who praised President Kufuor for his sublime disposition of humility, noted that Ghana had a lot of great things to offer humanity and asked the President to remain focussed to build the country in a way that all would be proud of.

President Kufuor said: "Ghana must be overjoyed for your elevation by Pope Benedict XVI as this clearly shows that our country, small, as it is geographically, is a great nation."

He said the new Cardinal had made the nation proud and that this would encourage the people to sustain the pace he had set. President Kufuor said Cardinal Dery was an example not only to the country's youth, but the clergy, politicians, traditional rulers and all others in leadership positions.

"If the Church sees so much in you the rest of us cherish you and pray for you. We thank God for you."

The Papal Nuncio said the Cardinal's elevation was in recognition of his distinguished service to the youth, the Church and nation. He becomes the second Cardinal in the country after Cardinal Turkson.