Accra, May 12, GNA - Most Reverend George Kocherry, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana on Friday called on Catholics to patronize The Standard and the National Catholic Weekly in order to transform the fortunes of the paper.

He also urged Catholic parents to encourage their children to regularly read the newspaper to build them up both intellectually and spiritually, and shape their future to become good and committed Christians.

Most Rev. Kocherry was speaking at the 5th Nuncio Awards Ceremony for Leading Subscribers and Promoters of The Standard in Accra. The Standard Weekly, established by the Catholic Church 67 years ago had played a pioneering role in the Ghanaian media landscape, especially during "Culture of silent" in the late 70's and the early 80's.

Most Rev. Kocherry said the newspaper was the most appropriate avenue, where the Pope could communicate with the Catholic bishops and faithfuls, as well as making known his mission and vision for the country.

He also urged Catholics to use the paper as an opportunity to evangelise to the public and win more souls to Christ. Mr Paul Adu-Gyamfi, Chairman of the National Media Commission (NMC) added to the call on Catholics in the country to patronize the paper in order to sustain its production.

He said during the period of the "Culture of silence", it was the Catholic Standard newspaper that many people relied upon for their daily information on events around the country.

He also urged the editors of the paper to continue to maintain the quality standard it had choked over the years.

Most Reverend Gabriel A. A. Mante, Bishop of Jasikan and Episcopal Chairman of the Department of Social Communication of the National Catholic Secretariat also appealed to the editorial staff to consider increasing the pages to 16 to accommodate articles on health, legal issues, marriage, guidance and counselling.

He also proposed to the management of the paper to create a sports page and encourage the youth to write articles on sports for the paper. Mr John B. Yirerong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Standard Newspapers and Magazines Limited appealed to public-spirited individuals within the church to assist the paper to purchase vehicles and change some of the printing machines, since most of the machines at the press house were obsolete.

He announced that the paper was now on the Internet, adding that, the Standard archives for past issues of the newspaper could be accessed on the same website.

In all, 12 parishes and six individuals were honoured for meritorious roles in promoting and subscriptions to the newspapers. Whiles the national awards for the first, second and third positions went to the St. Joseph, the Worker Parish of Tema Community Eight, Good Shepard Parish of Tema-Community Two Corpus Christi Parish-Sakumono.

13 May 06

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