Navrongo(UER) May 30, GNA - Pope Benedict XVI has raised the status of "Our Lady of Seven Sorrows" Cathedral in Navrongo to a Minor Basilica.

Most Reverend George Kocherry, Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, who represented the Pope, announced this at the opening ceremony of the Centenary Celebrations of Tamale Ecclesiastical Province of the Catholic Church at Navrongo in the Upper East Region at the weekend. Pope Benedict XVI also presented the Vatican Flag to the Province and asked that it be mounted at the new Basilica to signify its relationship with the Vatican.

He decreed that the Basilica had become an international centre of pilgrimage with the power to bestow special grace to those who visit to pray and seek spiritual renewal The Pope in addition, gave the Basilica, a special Monstrance that would house the Body of Christ, the Holy Eucharist for adoration. Most Rev. Kocherry officiating a mass service in honour of Virgin Mary, said elevation of the Cathedral was an anniversary gift from the Pope to the Tamale Province, which was celebrating 100 years of Catholic Evangelisation in the Northern Sector of the country.

He said by virtue of the elevation, the Cathedral would have special link with the Vatican as its representative in Northern Ghana. The elevation makes the Cathedral the second Basilica in Ghana after Saint Peter's Basilica in Kumasi.

Most Rev. Kocherry, said the Cathedral, fulfilled all the requirements to attain the status of a Basilica, this included special historical importance and unique architectural design. He said the church did not only fulfilled the requirements but as the mother church of Northern Ghana, the first Missionaries of Africa who came to Ghana in 1906, celebrated the first Holy Mass in the Province there.

Most Rev. Kocherry said the Church needed more priests and urged the youth to give religious vocations a chance in their lives. He also advised parents to nurture their children by the Catholic doctrine and encouraged them to take up religious vocations. The Apostolic Nuncio, commended Most Rev. Lucas Abadambora, Bishop of Navrongo and Bolgatanga Diocese for his hard work and dedication. The Tamale Ecclesiastical Province is celebrating 100 years of Catholic evangelisation in the North under the theme, "The Church as a Family."

The First Catholic Missionaries known as the Missionaries of Africa brought Catholic religion to Navrongo from where it spread to cover the entire Northern Sector.

The yearlong celebration would be held in all the five diocese in the North.