Richard Baawobr: Ghanaian Cardinal to Undergo Heart Surgery in Rome

• Ghana's Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr is expected to go through heart surgery in Rome by the end of this week
• He was hospitalised in the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome not long before he was to receive a red biretta from Pope Francis at a ceremony
• Baawobr was recently elected head of the African Bishops' Conference, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM)

Ghanaian Cardinal, His Eminence Richard Kuuia Baawobr, is expected to undergo heart surgery in Rome after his recent elevation to the College of Cardinals on August 27.

The 63-year-old received the title of cardinal while being treated in the Roman hospital.

The Catholic News Agency reports that Baawobr was hospitalised in the Santo Spirito Hospital in Rome last week shortly before the Vatican ceremony in which he was to receive a red biretta from Pope Francis.

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The medical procedure will happen before the week ends, per father Dieu-Donne Kofi Davor, the Communications Director for the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference.

Baawobr was recently elected head of the African Bishops' Conference, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), in July.

Since 2016, he has led the Diocese of Wa in the Upper West Region of northern Ghana. Before he became Bishop of Wa, Baawobr was the first African to serve as the superior general of the Missionaries of Africa, commonly called the "White Fathers" for their distinctive white cassocks.

A delegation from the diocese of Wa, who accompanied Baawobr to Italy for the consistory, has been able to continue with its scheduled pilgrimages to basilicas in Rome and Assisi despite the cardinal's medical problems.

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In a related story, YEN.com.gh reported that Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr had been elected president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

SECAM is an association of Catholic Bishops of Africa, Madagascar, and the Islands.

The elevation makes him the highest-ranking member of the Roman Catholic Church in Africa, a position previously held by His Eminence Philippe Cardinal Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso.

Source: YEN.com.gh