Bolgatanga, Dec. 23, GNA - The Most Reverend Lucas Abadamloora, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference and Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatnaga Diocese is dead.

He died at the Bolgatanga Regional Hospital on Wednesday at about 1700 hours, where he had gone to receive medical attention shortly after arriving in Bolgatanga from Cape Coast. He was 71.

A reliable source told GNA that the Bishop this afternoon complained about fatigue and general body weakness and, therefore, decided to visit the hospital. Just a little over two hours at the hospital his condition quickly deteriorated and passed away. His body has been embalmed and deposited at the Regional Hospital Morgue.

Most Rev. Abadamloora was ordained priest in 1968 and enthroned Bishop of the Navrongo-Bolgatanga Diocese on 29th June 1994 and has been in the priesthood service for 41 years. His Patroness Saint was Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. Most Rev. Abadamloora was born in Chiana, near Navrongo in the Upper East Region of Ghana on December 22, 1938. He was the first of seven children born to Charles and Joanna Abadamloora, who were among the first recipients of the Catholic faith in Chiana.

For his first eight years of life, Most Rev. Abadamloora joined the other village boys in learning the catechism, fetching water and washing plates for the missionaries and helping his father on his farm. Most Rev Abadamloora started school at St. Paul's Primary Boarding School in Navrongo in 1948 and then attended St. Mary's Middle School for two years. From 1956 to 1962, he studied at St. Charles Borromeo Minor Seminary in Tamale and then at the Government Secondary School there. He studied for six years at St. Victor's Major Seminary in Tamale. When Most Rev. Abadamloora became a bishop, the HIV/AIDS pandemic was breaking out in Ghana. Almost immediately, he made HIV/AIDs prevention; education; and care one of his major goals. He brought Catholic Relief Services (CRS) into his Diocese to help to administer care and prevention services. Another of Most Rev. Abadamloora's major achievements was his ability to broker peace with radical Muslims. He became friends with the Chief Imam of Bolgatanga and this resulted in a peace march of nearly 5,000 Muslims and Christians. 23 Dec. 09