The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference says Islam is posing “challenges” to Catholicism in Ghana and Christianity as a whole.

The Church is also concerned about the defection of Catholics to other Christian faiths.

The Church, according to Most Rev Joseph Osei-Bonsu, Bishop of Konongo-Mampong and President of the Conference is “faced with the threat of Islam and the exodus of her youth to emerging Pentecostal and Charismatic denominations”.

Speaking about the state of the Church in Ghana and Africa on the occasion of the Ad lamina visit to Rome by the Conference, Osei-Bonsu said according to the 2010 Population Census of Ghana, which put the country’s population at 24,658,823, 71% of the people professed to be Christians.

“Out of this number, the Catholic population is put at 13.1%. Significantly, this shows a 2% drop from the previous 15.1% in the 2000 Population Census”, Most Rev Osei-Bonsu observed.

He added that the West African country “is faced with the problems of materialism, secularism and moral decadence, especially among our youth and young adults”.

“We are working hand in hand with our Government to find lasting solutions to the evils of secularism and materialism, while engaging with other Christian denominations to tackle the problems of moral decadence and the challenges posed by Islam”.

He nonetheless pointed out that: “With regard to Islam, we would like to draw attention to the relatively peaceful religious co-existence that we have nurtured and enjoyed with this religion to date in Ghana and our intention to pursue this line further for the good of the country, the sub-region and the whole continent of Africa”.