On Thursday morning, November 18, 2021, Pope Francis received in audience Angelina Baiden-Amissah, Ambassadress of Ghana to the Holy See, on the occasion of the presentation of her Credentials in the Vatican, reported the Holy See Press Office.
Angelina Baiden-Amissah
According to the Embassy of Ghana to the Vatican, she was born on February 8, 1954, is married, and has three children. She graduated in Home Economics in 1979 and obtained a Licentiate in Education, specializing in Home Economics and Integrated Sciences, from the University College of Education of Winneba, Ghana, in 1991.
She later obtained Certificates in Pedagogy and Early Infancy Development. In addition, she has a postgraduate Certificate entitled “Leaders in Development: Managing Political and Economic Change,” from Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and an Executive Master’s in Business Administration (EMBA), Gimpa, Ghana.
She has held a number of posts in educational institutions and has been part of various Administration Councils of public organizations From 2001 to 2009 she was a Deputy and member of various Parliamentary Commissions. From 2005 to 2009 she was Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, as well as President of the Pastoral Council of Saint Karol parish in Aplaku/Bortianor.
There are three million Catholics in Ghana and the country is divided into 20 dioceses including four archdioceses and 1 Vicariate.
Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson is the best-known Ghana native serving in the Vatican. He was president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace from October 25, 2009, to January 1, 2017. Pope Francis named him the first Prefect of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development, which began operations on January 1, 2017, and a post he continues to hold at present. The Dicastery was the consolidation of several areas under one administration including, environment, ecology, ethics, the dignity of all people, poverty, and economics, whose current implementation (‘growth economics) Pope Francis sees as destructive on many fronts. He previously served as Archbishop of Cape Coast. He was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
