Christian Council rejects Government's pilgrimage sponsorship

The Christian Council of Ghana has stated categorically that it is not in any position to accept any form of sponsorship for pilgrimage by government.

It however stated that it will welcome the facilitation of pilgrims who desire to travel to Israel, the Vatican and other holy places through passport acquisition and major protocols but reiterated that allowing government finance the trip is something they will rightly reject.

Reverend Dr Kwabena Opuni-Frimpong, General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana said this is not the first time government is making such moves to sponsor them for the religious exercise.

“We have seen that several times because in 2012/2013 former President John Dramani Mahama made such moves but we rejected the offer. We told those coordinating that persons who want to embark on the pilgrimage should do that on their own accord. We have not changed our position on the matter. We thank government for the offer but the Christian Council of Ghana, the Catholic Bishops Conference and the Ghana Charismatic Pentecostal Councils will not accept their offer”, he revealed on Okay Fm.

He admitted that it is incumbent for the clergy to pray for the development of the country and the church but should not do that at the expense of the poor tax payer.

“We are restating our stance that we are not prepared to embark on any state-sponsored trip. What we rather expect government to do is national facilitations under the guise of protocol arrangements will be accepted. We can never accept this offer”, he concluded.