By: Dan Dzide
Rev. Msgr. Blaise Zubuor, 55, is no more. He died in Rome on June 11th, 2011 after a short illness. Until his death Msgr. Blaise, as he was popularly known, was the Vatican Official in the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples in charge of the Church in Tanzania, South Africa, Lesotho, Namibia, and Swaziland.He was also responsible for matters concerning Inter-religious Dialogue in the Congregation. He has worked at the Vatican for 16 years.
The casket containing his mortal remains was flown from Rome accompanied by Rev. Msgr. L. Sangu, a Vatican Official in the same Congregation. His body was received at the airport by the Apostolic Nuncio to Ghana, H.E. Most Rev. Leon B. Kalenga, Most Rev. Philip Naameh, the Archbishop of Tamale, Rev. Fr. Nicholas Afriyie, Secretary General of the National Catholic Secretariat and other sympathizers.
Msgr. Zubuor was born on the 15th of January 1956 and ordained Priest in the Archdiocese of Tamale in 1983. He worked for four years as Curate of the Cathedral before he left for Rome to study Inter-religious Dialogue at the Pontifical Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies. After obtaining his Licentiate, he returned to Ghana and worked as Secretary to the late Cardinal Peter Dery until 1994 when he was called to Rome to work in the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. He has handled several responsibilities for different countries of the mission territories at various times.
In an interview with The Catholic Standard, Archbishop Naameh described Msgr. Zubuor as a dedicated Priest who was very loyal to the Church and obedient to his Superiors. “As an Official of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith, he considered himself to be an Ambassador of the Ghanaian Church and indeed of the African Church at the Vatican,” he added.
Rev. Sr. Jane Mary, Msgr Zubuor’s niece and a Sister of the Missionary Workers of Mary Immaculate in France, was with him during his last moments. Msgr. Victor Dery, Generalist of the Missionaries of White Fathers in Rome, observed that even though Msgr. Blaise “was in pain, he never complained.”
Msgr. Blaise was gifted in many languages. In addition to Twi, Ewe, Ga and the Northern languages, he also spoke French, Italian, German and Arabic fluently.
He will be laid to rest at the St. Victor’s Major Seminary Cemetery for the Clergy and the Religious at Tamale on Tuesday, June 28, 2011.