Catholic Diocese of Sunyani ·
Nsoatre-Amanfoso, Bono Region — 16 August 2026. The Bishop of Sunyani, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, has declared 2027 as The Year of the Youth for the Catholic Diocese of Sunyani, announcing the decision before thousands of pilgrims at the climax Mass of the Annual Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Mary, Queen of Peace Grotto.
I once again declare 2027 as The Year of the Youth.
Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, Bishop of Sunyani
The declaration extends a focus the Diocese had already adopted for 2026. Bishop Gyamfi said the emphasis would be sustained through another year in order to deepen formation and mission among young people — placing the Diocese in step with the universal Church, whose own Year of the Youth in 2027 will draw young people from around the world to Seoul, South Korea.
Four days, and a Grotto filled to capacity
The announcement closed a pilgrimage that ran from 13 to 16 August under the theme “The Year of the Youth: Youthful, Empowered and Sent; Mary Our Model.”
The Grotto was filled to capacity for the finale. Among those present were traditional leaders, all the priests and religious of the Sunyani Diocese, Catholics and non-Catholics, parish groups, youth societies, and pilgrims who had travelled from neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire.
The celebrations had opened on Thursday evening with Mass presided over by Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Domfeh, who put a single question to the pilgrims: why are we here? Recalling Joshua’s challenge at Shechem — “Choose this day whom you will serve” — he urged each pilgrim to make the choice personally rather than follow the crowd, and warned that Christians have become difficult to distinguish from the people of the world, being found in the same corrupt practices, galamsey among them.
1,200 young pilgrims on the road from Berekum
The most visible expression of the theme came the following morning, when the Diocesan Youth set out on foot from St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church, Berekum, at about 6:50 a.m. and walked to the Grotto, arriving around 10:00 a.m.
The column began with an estimated 700 pilgrims and grew as others joined along the route, reaching roughly 1,200 by the time it arrived. Young people came from all seven deaneries of the Diocese, accompanied by priests and religious, including sisters of the SVI and HHCJ congregations. The walk opened with the Rosary and continued in personal prayer, with a youth brass band leading and residents lining the roadside as the pilgrims passed.
Organisers noted that the Marian Walk had been planned by many hands over a long period, and that earlier attempts had not come off. Its success this year, on this scale, gave the day its particular joy.
Nine talks, from Marian discipleship to artificial intelligence
The pilgrimage carried a full programme of catechesis. Rev. Fr. Christian Nti opened the series with Mary, Model of the Catholic Youth, contrasting Eve’s refusal with Mary’s consent and telling the young pilgrims they had not come to the Grotto by accident but in the plan of God, to be sent.
Mr. Peter Kofi Anum followed on Empowering the Youth through Ethical and Gospel Values, arguing that the future is built neither by technology nor by wealth nor by political power, but by women and men of character rooted in Christ — and that ethical formation without a foundation in love collapses into mere rule-following. He challenged the Church on her side of the bargain: young people should help shape ministry, not merely receive it.
On the Solemnity itself, Rev. Fr. Stephen Kumah took up Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.” The Church does not reject these tools, he said, but asks that they serve as a means and never become an end. He offered two tests for their use: does it respect the dignity of every human person, and does it draw us nearer to God or tempt us to think we no longer need Him? Comparing the encyclical to the Tower of Babel, he concluded that the document is finally about human dignity rather than about technology.
Mrs. Elizabeth Osei-Kumi and Rev. Fr. Evans Obeng Ameyaw then treated the finding of the child Jesus in the temple from two sides. Mrs. Osei-Kumi told parents that the home is the first school of every child and that harsh words and violence do not build good children; Mary and Joseph, she noted, were not overprotective, yet when the child was lost they searched three days and corrected Him with patience rather than anger. Fr. Ameyaw pressed priests and religious to accompany young people personally — to know their names, their struggles and their dreams — and to give them responsibility now.
If we always tell young people, “You are the leaders of tomorrow,” they may ask, “What about today?” Give them responsibility today.
Rev. Fr. Evans Obeng Ameyaw
The Bishop’s charge: family, Church and nation
In his homily at the climax Mass, Bishop Gyamfi said God is sending the youth to three places: to build their families, to build the Church, and to build their communities and nation. Every Christian, he reminded the faithful, fulfils the mission to know, love and serve God through the two main vocations of Marriage and Holy Orders.
He began with the home.
The Corporal Works of Mercy — feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, protecting the vulnerable, and providing for those in need — are lived out first and fully in the family. Build a Godly family. You cannot ignore the family and expect to get to Heaven. The family is a sure path to Heaven.
Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi
On formation, his instruction was practical: “Dear Youth, learn the faith. Let the YOUCAT and the Bible become your manual for life. You cannot teach what you do not know.” He urged the young to join parish societies, take part in Small Christian Communities, and evangelise their peers.
Turning to civic life, the Bishop called young people into politics rather than away from it.
Get involved in politics to change politics that is dirty, corrupt, and ungodly. You cannot change a corrupt system from the outside. You can only change it from the inside.
Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi
He reserved his sharpest words for illegal mining — the same subject that had been raised from the same ground four days earlier.
No politician, chief, or anyone else can pollute our waters and destroy our lands through galamsey without our approval. Dear Youth, you can stop galamsey. Don’t leave the fight only to politicians or traditional authorities. Do not collaborate with them. Speak against it and fight it.
Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi
He closed with a civic directive, urging the faithful to vote wisely and to vote against politicians who support LGBTQ+ causes and galamsey.
Sent
The celebration also carried the blessing of items by Rev. Msgr. Richard Kyeremeh and the blessing of drivers by Rev. Fr. Simon Gyan Obeng. The pilgrimage ended with Benediction, thanksgiving, and a renewed commitment from the young people to live as “Youthful, Empowered and Sent.”
With 2027 now declared The Year of the Youth, the Diocese is expected to roll out programmes focused on faith formation, leadership and service, with Mary as the model — continuing what began this week at the feet of Mary, Queen of Peace.
Live coverage of Grotto 2026 is available at cdsunyani.org/grotto2026. Photographs and broadcasts by Verbum Media, Catholic Diocese of Sunyani.
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