"Take Courage": Ghana to Host the First West Africa Youth Days

From 7 to 11 September 2026, Ghana's capital, Accra, hosts the first edition of the West Africa Youth Days, a historic gathering promoted by the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA/CERAO). More than 3,000 young people from 16 West African countries gathered for catechesis, prayer meetings and workshops over 5 days under the theme "Take Courage: Catholic Youth as Actors and Agents of Peace and Hope in West Africa", together with the Bishops of the region; the initiative, whose structure follows the recent World Youth Day in Lisbon, was born out of the desire of the region's Bishops to offer young Catholics a shared space of faith, encounter, and formation.

For the occasion, the Holy Father sent a video message in which he encouraged the young people to be witnesses of love, justice and peace: "Let no one be marginalized, isolated, excluded or rejected. Be builders of bridges between peoples, cultures and religions."

The idea of a gathering of West African Catholic youth arose from a request by the young people themselves: The initiative was first proposed in Burkina Faso in 2019, and the Bishops gave their approval for the following year. But the event had to be postponed because of the pandemic. Father Vincent de Paul Boro, First Assistant Secretary of CERAO, explained that the gathering is meant to be a "prophetic sign" for the region, able to make young people—coming from sixteen countries and from different cultures and languages—protagonists of a renewed youth pastoral ministry and witnesses of unity in a continent marked by tensions. Father Peter Konteh, President of the Regional Union of Priests of West Africa (URPAO), also addressed a message of closeness to young people, recalling the difficulties many of them face—insecurity, irregular migration, unemployment, poverty—and expressing hope that the event might "awaken a new generation" of Catholics rooted in Christ and courageous in hope.

Representing the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development in Accra is Father Avelino Chico, who presented a video message from the new Prefect, Sister Alessandra Smerilli, F.M.A., and from Prefect Emeritus Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J., along with officials, Mario Almeida and Beatrice Binaghi, accompanied by Don Mattia Ferrari, Coordinator of the EMMP (Encuentro Mundial de Movimientos Populares).