The Archbishop of Cape Coast, Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, has urged the youth to be mindful of the things they watch on social media to put their time to productive use. 

He expressed concern that many youths had become addicted to social media, expending valuable time learning and following unnecessary trends on pages which only made them noisy and unproductive.

Archbishop Palmer-Buckle gave the advice when he addressed thousands of young people during the weekend at the Cape Coast Archdiocesan Youth Rally of the Roman Catholic Church at Assin Fosu in the Central Region.

“Social media, especially TikTok, has made most youth idle, as they spend much time there instead of making productive use of the time.  

“Use your social media profitably, use it to learn new skills, search for valuable information instead of following unnecessary trends online,” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle advised during the “Time with the Archbishop” segment of the youth rally.

Youth Rally

The four-day 2024 Cape Coast Archdiocesan Youth Rally brought together about 2,000 youths from 11 Deanery in the Central Region.

The youth participated in prayer sessions and social activities scheduled for the four days.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the event, the Deputy Minister of Education, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin South, called on the youth to be true to their obligations to the church and the country.

Rev. Ntim Fordjour said every talent was useful to the church and the country and that the youth should not belittle them and only think that being successful was only possible overseas.

“Create your opportunities and make it lucrative for others to benefit from.  No man is talentless, the MP stated.

Noise pollution

Speaking to the Daily Graphic later, the Archbishop of Cape Coast explained that the youth were exposed to so much noise these days which was contributing in part, to most of the health issues they were suffering.

“The youth are exposed to so much noise all around which results in most health issues they are battling with. It is high time they restricted and sieved the level of noise they expose themselves to,” Archbishop Palmer-Buckle said.

The Archbishop of Cape Coast also said the youth were the future of the church and the country, therefore, the church should not only be concerned about their spiritual well-being but also about their health because they were gifts from God.

Most Rev. Palmer-Buckle also urged the youth to learn how to stay focused on God during Holy Mass and not be swayed by distractions as that was discipline in the house of God. 

Rationale

The Cape Coast Archdiocesan Youth Rally is the Cape Coast version of the World Youth Day celebration, an annual activity on the Catholic Calendar to bring the youth in the church all over the world to fraternise and pray.

Highlighting the theme of the Rally, “Those who hope in the Lord will not be weary”, the Archdiocesan Youth Chaplain, Rev. Father James Yaw Nkum, stated that the rally formed part of the Archdiocese’s programmes to foster bonding and spirituality among the youth in the Archdiocese.

“The youth sometimes need to be together and express themselves by sharing ideas and praying together, and this rally is one of the ways the Catholic Church brings its youth together for fraternisation and prayers,” he said. 

Rev. Father Nkum added that the youth also needed to be patient and know how to wait on the Lord.

“The happenings in our world today sometimes distract the youth from their purpose in life, so bringing them together in prayer and fraternisation is a strategic way of the church to bring its youth back on track,” he explained.