Grotto 2026Live Events Update

5:30 PM · Marian Procession

The Marian Procession with Rosary prayers

Pilgrims processed with the statue of Our Lady, praying the Rosary — servers first, then the faithful, priests and religious, the statue of Our Lady, and the Bishop with the deacons — followed by the Prayer of the Faithful and songs of praise.

11:30 AM · Eucharistic Celebration

“Mary was not obliged — she went out of love”: the Vicar General preaches on the Divine Order

The Mass of the Solemnity was presided over, and the homily preached, by Very Rev. Fr. Thomas Oppong Febiri, Vicar General of the Diocese of Sunyani. He began by thanking the Bishop, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, for the opportunity to preside at so significant a celebration — a feast kept as a holy day of obligation in countries such as Italy.

The Divine Order

Scripture, he said, shows us a Divine Order. In it God is the one who calls; He takes the initiative, and no one calls himself or herself. When He calls, He leaves the person free to listen, to respond and to act. And He never calls without reason: every call carries an assignment for the one called.

We see it in Abraham, in Moses, in the shepherds, in the apostles, in the Blessed Virgin Mary. Among them all Mary’s calling stands out, because having accepted God’s promise for her life she went on to do certain things entirely of her own volition — ordinary things that any of us do, but done by her in a way that was anything but ordinary. She was under no obligation. She did them out of love.

She travelled

Mary travelled to a town near Jerusalem — a journey comparable to going from Berekum to Kumasi, along a difficult road that could take from three days to a week. Moses too travelled to help the Israelites, but his journey came as a command from God, not as something he chose for himself.

Why would Mary take such a risk? Not for money, and not for any gain of her own, but out of love for her cousin. We are taught by it to undertake journeys that make a real difference in the lives of others.

She entered

Mary entered Elizabeth’s home to bring her joy — but she could not enter until the door was opened to her. As Elizabeth opened her door to Mary and was filled with joy, so will young people be filled with joy if they open the doors of their hearts. Mary entered in order to share her joy; we too are called to share our joys with others.

She greeted

Greeting one another is common to nearly every culture. Yet Mary’s greeting brought great joy, even to the unborn John the Baptist. When ordinary things are done in an extraordinary spirit, they bring peace. Take nothing in life for granted: even a simple greeting can make a significant difference in someone’s life.

She prayed

Mary thanked God for blessing her with the fruit of her womb, and the preacher put the question to the women present: what do you do with the fruit God grants you? Be as wise as the Blessed Virgin Mary, who cherished the fruit of her womb.

Her prayer was first a prayer of praise — for what God had done for her, for Israel and for their forefathers. Its second part was prophecy: Mary declared over her own life that all generations would call her blessed, and truly every generation, our own included, calls her blessed.

There is power in words, he concluded. Make it a point to prophesy over your life daily. Parents should encourage their children in every good thing they set out to do. When you rise in the morning, look into the mirror and declare good things over yourself. What you fill yourself with, others will confirm. Use words of faith, words of hope, words that elevate — and Almighty God will confirm them for you. Amen.

9:30 AM · 6th & 7th Talks

The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple — the role of parents, priests and religious

The morning’s second session took up a single Gospel scene, the finding of the child Jesus in the temple (Lk 2:42-52), from two directions: the part parents play in forming the young, and the part priests and religious play.

Parents’ role — Mrs. Elizabeth Osei-Kumi

Scripture gives real guidance on raising children. Deuteronomy 6:7 reminds us that teaching them is not an occasional duty but a constant, ongoing part of daily life, and Mrs. Osei-Kumi pointed to Mary and Joseph as the model of what that looks like in practice.

Jesus’ parents brought Him along to the celebration; once in the temple He stayed behind, asking questions, plainly caught up in the conversation with the teachers. Mary and Joseph travelled a full day before realising He was not with them, having assumed He was among relatives or friends — and in that, she noted, they were not overprotective parents hovering over His every move.

But once they knew He was missing they wasted no time: they searched three days. That is the model for every parent and guardian today — when our children wander, we search until we find them. And when they found Him, they corrected Him with love and patience rather than anger, which is the same posture parents are called to now.

Jesus was found in the temple. Our own children may be found somewhere far from the Church — and still we can keep looking for them, wherever the search leads.

Good behaviour starts at home, and parents are the first role models their children have. She encouraged parents to speak openly with their children about the things that matter, from care for the environment to keeping clear of harmful habits such as betting. She closed on the power of prayer and of words: pray for your children and teach them to pray; wish them well in all things; never curse them, but bless them — because a parent’s words carry real weight in a child’s life.

Priests and religious — Rev. Fr. Evans Obeng Ameyaw

Fr. Ameyaw took up the same scene from another angle. Jesus was found in the temple in conversation with the elders — actively engaged, not merely present — and that image is the starting point for how priests and religious should engage young people. His practical points:

• Give them real roles in the life of the parish. When they have something to actually do, they feel they belong, and active participation follows.
• Budget for youth ministry. Parishes should build the wellbeing of their young people into annual planning, not treat it as an afterthought.
• Encourage Eucharistic Adoration as a genuine encounter with Christ, not another activity on the calendar.
• Make spiritual direction available. Many young people are quietly battling addictions of one kind or another, and walking closely with them makes a real difference.
• Offer them leadership positions in the Church rather than keeping them on the sidelines.
• Teach them to use social media well. It is here to stay, whether we are comfortable with it or not.
• Teach the value of service and generosity, and help them see giving as part of who they are.
• Help them discern their vocation, whether to married life or to Holy Orders.

Above all, walk with them — accompaniment being an ongoing exercise across the whole of their journey, not a single conversation. He closed on a simple and central point: every young person is called to encounter and to serve God.

8:30 AM · 5th Talk

Magnifica Humanitas — a reflection on AI and human dignity

Technology is a wonderful gift, but like any gift it needs to be guided, so that it serves us rather than diminishing who we are. That was the heart of this morning’s talk by Rev. Fr. Stephen Kumah, reflecting on Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas — “On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.”

AI cannot replace what makes us human

Fr. Kumah began with a simple but important observation: AI has no mercy, no love, no compassion. It has no conscience, and it cannot always tell right from wrong. Given that, he said, it would be a serious mistake to let it replace humanity instead of serving it.

AI is something human beings made. It should be controlled by us, not the other way round. We were created by God in a special way — to know Him, love Him and serve Him — and that calling is what makes us masters of technology rather than its subjects. We are meant to direct AI, not to be directed by it.

Serving the common good

AI is meant to serve the common good of all people, and to help us recognise God and appreciate Him as the giver of all knowledge. Its use must therefore stay in line with the Word of God; wherever AI is used in a way that contradicts that Word, it has failed its purpose. It is there to supplement our humanity, not to do away with it.

The Tower of Babel

He drew a compelling comparison between the encyclical and the Tower of Babel in Genesis. Just as human wisdom built without God could not stand, so AI cannot stand if it fails to reflect Him. Wisdom is good — but only when it stays rooted in its true source.

Mary’s Magnificat

The connection with Mary’s Magnificat runs deep. Even in her greatness Mary humbled herself, knowing that all she had came from God, and even in her blessedness she directed it all back to Him. In the same way, Fr. Kumah said, our use of AI should be directed towards God, in that same spirit of humility.

Questions worth asking

Rather than treating AI as a merely technical matter, he framed it as an invitation to examine our own humanity, and left the gathering with questions to sit with:

• Does our use of AI reflect the dignity of every human person?
• Does it help us examine our morality — does it assist our decisions, or replace our conscience?
• Does it help us tell truth from falsehood?
• Does it strengthen our solidarity with one another?
• Does it deepen our faith?
• And ultimately: does it lead us closer to God, or pull us further away?

More about humanity than technology

In the end, Fr. Kumah said, Magnifica Humanitas is not really a document about artificial intelligence. It is a document about human dignity. AI is here to stay — there is no getting around that — and the real question is how we use it in a way that lifts up the human person rather than diminishing them.

1:30 PM · Pictures of the Day

Scenes from the Grotto

A few images from the second day of the pilgrimage at the Mary, Queen of Peace Grotto, Amanfoso-Nsoatre.

12:00 PM · Eucharistic Celebration

“Don’t ignore your true calling” — Bishop Gyamfi preaches on vocation at the midday Mass

The Eucharistic Celebration of the day was presided over by our Bishop, Most Rev. Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, with music led by Nwomkoro and the Youth of the Holy Family. In his homily the Bishop turned the pilgrims’ attention to the question of vocation.

Taking up the day’s Gospel on marriage and celibacy (Mt 19:3-12), he set before the young people the two primary vocations — marriage and the priesthood — and warned them not to let a career eclipse the calling it was meant to serve. A job can be abandoned or exchanged, he observed; a vocation is for life.

From the first reading in Ezekiel, where God remembers His covenant with an unfaithful people (Ez 16:60), the Bishop drew his second theme: that God keeps covenant even when we do not, and waits for the return of those who have wandered. His appeal to the youth was direct — ask God about His purpose for your life, come home, and be sent.

10:40 AM · 2nd Talk

“You are not here by accident” — Mr. Peter Kofi Anum on forming youth for tomorrow

The second talk of the morning was given by Mr. Peter Kofi Anum on Empowering the Youth through Ethical and Gospel Values to Build a Strong Foundation for Tomorrow. The theme was chosen, he explained, because the youth stand at the very heart of the Church: the Church cannot exist without a future, and that future lies in their hands.

Where is the future?

Yet the very young people who are called the future of the Church often act otherwise, giving themselves to all manner of vices. So where is the future? The future, he answered, is now. Quoting Pope Francis, he reminded the gathering that the youth are not merely the Church of tomorrow — they are the Church.

God knows you, loves you, and has called you. And God does not call without reason: He calls in order to send. No one at the Grotto arrived there by accident, he told the young pilgrims, and no one came merely because they saw an advertisement. They were there because in God’s plan they were meant to be there — to be sent.

The call does not depend on age

Recalling Joseph, David and others whom God raised up young, he insisted that the work of God is simply a matter of being called, not of being old enough. He took up St. Paul’s encouragement that no one should look down on the young in the work of God, and pressed the point further: every person has a purpose, and no circumstance confines anyone so completely that they cannot carry it out.

What parents, priests and leaders must do

Since the mission of the Church is to evangelise, he said, parents and the whole community bear a serious responsibility for helping the young live according to God’s plan for them. He set out how:

• Let them know Christ. Without Him we can do nothing.
• Strengthen catechesis and the teaching of the Church’s doctrine.
• Give them mentors and role models. Priests, parents and Church leaders are called to be that themselves. Long counsel is not enough — preach to them by your way of life.
• Let the youth truly participate. Involve them in every activity. What is the use of doing everything yourself, with no one prepared to take your place?
• Encourage them in their studies and stay with them on the journey, so that they never feel they are walking alone.

He closed with two questions for the pilgrims to sit with: what reason could ever be good enough to skip Holy Mass? And what sense is there in taking part in the Mass and then going elsewhere in search of prayer?

10:00 AM · 1st Talk

Mary, Model of the Catholic Youth — Fr. Christian Nti calls the young to a faithful “yes”

The first talk of the pilgrimage was delivered this morning by Rev. Fr. Christian Nti on the theme Mary, Model of the Catholic Youth, setting the Virgin Mary before the young people of the Diocese as the pattern of obedience, humility and courage.

Drawing a contrast between Eve and Mary, Fr. Nti told the youth that the decisive turn in salvation history came not through power but through the consent of one young woman. He urged them to guard their purity in a culture that has made sin ordinary, to stay humble in their gifts, to believe when others doubt, and to weigh their decisions with prayer and counsel rather than passing emotion.

6:50 AM – 10:00 AM · Marian Youth Walk

Some 1,200 young pilgrims walk from Berekum to the Grotto

As part of the Year of the Youth celebrations, the Diocesan Youth embarked this morning on a Marian Walk to the Mary, Queen of Peace Grotto, setting out from the premises of St. Theresa of Avila Catholic Church, Berekum, at about 6:50 AM and arriving at the Grotto around 10:00 AM.

The column began with an estimated 700 pilgrims and grew as others joined along the route, reaching roughly 1,200 by the time it reached the Grotto. Young people came from all seven deaneries of the Diocese, accompanied by priests and religious — among them sisters of the SVI and HHCJ congregations — who walked with them the whole way.

The walk opened with the praying of the Holy Rosary. As the pilgrims went on, they continued in personal prayer, carrying their own intentions along the road, so that the journey kept the character of a pilgrimage rather than a procession.

The mood was one of gladness. The initiative had been planned by many hands over a long time, and earlier attempts had not come off; that it finally happened, and on this scale, gave the day its particular joy. The distance told on tired legs by the end, but the young pilgrims arrived grateful — a walk that showed, in one morning, the unity, faith and energy of the youth of this Diocese.

8:00 PM – 11:00 PM · Opening Mass & Night Prayers

“Who will you serve?” — Grotto 2026 opens with Mass and a night of prayer

Grotto 2026 opened on Thursday evening at the Mary, Queen of Peace Grotto, Amanfoso-Nsoatre, with the celebration of Holy Mass followed by prayers late into the night. The opening Mass was presided over by Very Rev. Fr. Joseph Domfeh, who began by thanking the faithful for taking time out of their busy schedules to embark on this pilgrimage.

His homily turned on a single question: Why are we here?

“Choose this day whom you will serve”

Fr. Domfeh recalled the challenge Joshua set before the Israelites — “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15). That same question, he said, is put to every pilgrim today. Make it personal; do not simply follow the crowd. As for us, we will serve the Lord — and we will serve Him in the Catholic Church.

To those who make that decision firmly, God gives the Holy Spirit, who strengthens them, grants them the glory and the good things they need, and urges them to bear witness.

How do we bear that witness?

Witness depends greatly on our relationship with God and with our neighbour, the preacher said. Through our good deeds others come to know the Lord and experience a change of mind and heart.

Yet it is appalling that we can scarcely distinguish the people of this world from Christians any longer — because Christians are found doing the very things the world does, engaging in galamsey and other corrupt practices. Let it be, rather, that through your good deeds others are drawn to the Church.

A call to transformation

Do not leave this place the same way you came. Seize this opportunity to be the light that leads others along the right path. If we were to live righteous and holy lives, our region, our country and our Church would be the better for it.

He left the pilgrims with a question to carry through these days: the transformation you undergo here — can it help better the Church? Can it help improve the country?