Fr. William Ryan Essay: Reflections From Africa on Destroying Idols and Saving Souls

Normalization of Pedophilia, by Scarlen Valderaz
April 21, 2023
Saint of the Day for April 22: St. Adalbert of Prague
April 22, 2023
0

Fr. Peter Ryan, SJ, destroying ancestral idols in Togo, West Africa. (Photos courtesy of the author)

When my brother Fr. Peter Ryan, S.J. visited me at the mission parish in Togo, West Africa, he wasn’t expecting to be smashing idols with a sledgehammer and burning the remains. But that’s exactly what he did.

By Fr. William Ryan Essay, Catholic World Report, April 18, 2023

Fr. William Ryan served in the Peace Corps in Togo from 1973 to 1975. He was ordained for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1980. After serving for many years in Hispanic ministry, he returned to Togo in 2006 to become the founding pastor of the mission parish of Our Lady of Guadalupe. His younger brother Peter, is a Jesuit priest who teaches at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit.

When my brother Fr. Peter Ryan, S.J. visited me not long ago at the mission parish here in Togo, West Africa, where I’ve served for the past seventeen years as a priest on loan from the Archdiocese of Washington, I don’t think he expected to be smashing idols with a sledgehammer and burning the remains. But life has its surprises, and that’s exactly what he did.

Here’s how it happened.

During Peter’s visit, a delegation from one of the prominent families in this large rural village where our mission is located came to see me with the great news that they had decided to renounce their ancestral idol. And they asked me to destroy it. Hearing about this, a few other neighboring families decided to do the same with theirs. Excitement began to build, a Saturday morning was selected, and plans were quickly made. …

Continue reading >>>>

Related posts

Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima (Q55435471) Atomic Cloud Rises Over Nagasaki (Q55437339). Left picture : At the time this photo was made, smoke billowed 20,000 feet above Hiroshima while smoke from the burst of the first atomic bomb had spread over 10,000 feet on the target at the base of the rising column. Six planes of the 509th Composite Group participated in this mission: one to carry the bomb (Enola Gay), one to take scientific measurements of the blast (The Great Artiste), the third to take photographs (Necessary Evil), while the others flew approximately an hour ahead to act as weather scouts (08/06/1945). Bad weather would disqualify a target as the scientists insisted on a visual delivery. The primary target was Hiroshima, the secondary was Kokura, and the tertiary was Nagasaki. Right picture : Atomic bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945, taken by Charles Levy. This image is a work of a US Dept. of Energy (or predecessor organization) employee, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

April 24, 2024

The Bomb and the American Barbarian, by Michael Ippolito

Read more

AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, Andrew D. Brosig/Tyler Morning Telegraph via AP

April 24, 2024

Bishop Strickland Denounces ‘Silent Shepherds,’ ‘Corrupt Vatican’, by Thomas D. Williams

Read more

Official portrait of Vice President of the United States Joe Biden. 13 August 2009. Andrew Cutraro, White House photographer. This file is a work of an employee of the Executive Office of the President of the United States, taken or made as part of that person's official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain.

April 23, 2024

Catholic Bishops Blast New Biden Rule Forcing Employers to Fund Abortions, by Steven Ertelt 

Read more