Renowned Ghanaian clergyman, Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, has reacted to a directive by the government for prophets in the country to submit their prophecies that have implications on ‘national security’ for review.

In a JoyNews interview on August 19, 2025, Cardinal Turkson questioned the specific role of a new government office established to receive prophecies.

He explained that prophecies are mostly confused with premonitions.

He said prophecies are given to promote the church, to warn of upcoming events, and to educate, among others.

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Premonitions, on the other hand, he noted, are gifts of seeing the future, but the people with this gift cannot do anything to change what is coming in most cases.

He added that what he advises people with such gifts to do is to pray and intercede for the people involved in such revelations by God because He (God) is merciful.

“I respect the consideration that led them to this. I have not been privy to it and I have not had the chance to consider the factors and the elements that led to this type of thing, but as a priest, I find that to be a very challenging task.

“How is an office going to monitor and discern prophecies? If prophecies are not just from the Christian denomination. If you put this under the traditional religion, they also receive prophecies. And then you include those who are not prophets but have gifts of premonition – this is a gift which is different from prophecy. Premonition is a natural gift that a lot of people have and exercise, but they don’t refer to it as prophecy.

“In my own small way, in my office with the windows and door locks and the air conditioning on, and sometimes, I will see a flying insect from nowhere. Shortly thereafter, we will have news of death. So, what can I do? Will I perceive it as a prophecy? I won't call this a prophecy,” he added.

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Cardinal Turkson also noted that the good thing about the directive of the government is that it will help prevent certain information from reaching the public, which might cause fear and panic.

“There are so many events related to the knowledge about the future. It comes as a prophecy, it comes as a premonition, it comes in so many different forms. Now, when you say you’ve created an office with people to manage this, the advantage is that it just saves that from social media and all the interpretations. So, you channel these types of things in a way that can reduce their impact, so that is very valid. But if this office has the additional task of determining which is true and which is not true, which is valid and which is not valid, then that is a tough one,” he reiterated.

BAI/VPO

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