The newly appointed Archbishop of Freetown and Bo, Edward Tamba Charles, has said “I am nervous as I was not expecting this.”
After the announcement had been made by the Apostolic Nuncio to Sierra Leone Archbishop George Anthonysamy, the Archbishop elect said, “when I was told by the Nuncio, I thought to myself maybe it was a joke or maybe an April Fool in the middle of March. I also thought it was a nightmare so I was waiting for someone to wake me up. But no way it was reality.”
He added that, “it is a fact anyway and it is true. I feel shy to pronounce that I am the Archbishop. I have to accept it…I was thinking whether to accept it or not, I therefore weigh both options and in the end decided to accept as it is only a wayward child that will disobey his mother.”
The Archbishop elect echoed that, “I believe and confident that we will be able to work together to push the mission forward. The task is challenging but I am confident that the Holy Father who appointed me will always be by me.”
Edward Tamba Charles, who is also rector of the Saint Paul’s Major Seminar, maintained that after he had been in the formation process he was hoping that he could just fade away as a parish priest in one small community “but this was what God has planned for me “.
In making the announcement, Archbishop Anthonysamy said almost a year when Bishop Ganda Emeritus resigned they had been observing different priests and it was with the help of the parishioners through their prayers that they were able to come this way.
Archbishop George Anthonysamy urged parishioners to “show respect and obedience to this new bishop. After three months, starting from today, we will have the consecration.”
In his speech the Bishop of Makeni, George Biguzzi, said “this announcement is a sign that the church is moving towards a brighter future”.
He added that, “46 years ago it was only I who was the bishop in the entire country but now the country has three which is a sign that the church can now represent itself here in Sierra Leone”.
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