A funeral service incorporating examples from the lives of Monsignor Francis Abuah-Quansah and Very Rev. Fr Paul Awuah has been held at the Star of the Sea Catholic Cathedral in Takoradi.

330 priests from Ghana, La Cote D'Ivoire, and the Diocese of Wisconsin, United States, 3 Archbishops, and 4 Bishops, joined the congregation to bid farewell to these two illustrious priests from the Western region of Ghana.

Also present was Osabarima Kwaw Entsie II, Omanhene of Mpohor Traditional Area, Nana Kobina Nketsiah, Paramount Chief of Essikado Traditional Area, Catherine Afeku, Minister of State at the Presidency, Anthony Evans Amoah, former Western regional minister, Ignatius Asaah Mensah, DCE for Mpohor, and other state dignitaries who took the time to commiserate with the Catholic church.

His Eminence, Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, main celebrant of the funeral mass, recounted the role Monsignor Abuah-Quansah played in nourishing the path to the priesthood for many people born in the mining areas of Tarkwa, Prestea, Nsuta, Aboso, and Tarkwa-Banso.

Against this background, Cardinal Turkson asked the priests to remember the late Monsignor and Fr. Awuah in their prayers.

Extracting a word from the pidgin language, Cardinal Turkson referred to a generation of "Mines pikins " who entered the vocation of priesthood and excelled, when others had ventured but could not become priests of the Catholic church.

"To the Glory of God, we are here to thank our departed brother who opened an outlet of religiosity to enable us to become priests, we bid you farewell, and thank you", Cardinal Turkson remarked.

In a homily delivered trilingually, Archbishop Charles Palmer-Buckle, head of Cape-Coast Catholic Archdiocese, extolled the virtues and faith that Monsignor Abuah-Quansah and Fr. Awual upheld and exemplified in their priestly duties.

Archbishop Buckle referenced the attitude of Mary and Martha towards the death of their brother- Lazarus, and admonished Christians to "live their lives in faith".

Speaking in flawless Nzema, Archbishop Buckle urged the congregants "not to cry without hope, but believe that death is a journey ".

He said, "mankind cannot question why people may die at a certain time, explaining that sometimes death is a happy ending to pain and suffering".

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle revealed that Monsignor Abuah-Quansah was his classmate in the seminary, and had even spoken with him two days before his death, which was shocking.

He, however, said the tenacity of Mary and Martha, and of their faith, should be imitated and kept in the hearts of Christians based on the belief that "death can also occur for a reason".

The two priests were later buried at the Catholic priests cemetery, St. Kizito enclave, Apowa.