In memoriam Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, M.Afr.

29 Nov 2022


It is with sadness that the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity has learned of the death on 27 November 2022 of His Eminence Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, M.Afr. Cardinal Baawobr, a member and former Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa, had been Bishop of Wa in Ghana since 2016. The Holy Father appointed him a member of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity in July 2020.

In May 2022, Pope Francis announced that Bishop Baawobr would be created cardinal at the consistory of 27 August, and in July 2022, he was elected President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). Though he travelled to Rome for the occasion, Bishop Baawobr was taken ill shortly before the consistory and was proclaimed cardinal in absentia. He was treated first at the Holy Spirit Hospital and then at the Gemelli Hospital. On 7 October, Pope Francis re-appointed the cardinal to the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

Cardinal Baawobr was discharged to the Generalate of the Missionaries of Africa in Rome on 18 November for what was expected to be a period of recuperation before returning to Ghana. Sadly, the Cardinal’s condition worsened on Sunday 27 November and he died that evening, shortly after being readmitted to hospital. He was 63 years old.

Requiescat in pace.