Born: 11 Oct 1948 [ Wassaw Nsuta ]
Ordained Priest: 20Jul 1975 [Priest of Cape Coast]
Appointed: 6 Oct 1992 [Archbishop of Cape Coast ]
Ordained Bishop: 27 Mar 1993 [Archbishop of Cape Coast ]
Elevated to Cardinal: 21 Oct 2003
Appointed: 21 Oct 2003 [Cardinal-Priest of S. Liborio]
Installed: 18 Mar 2004 [Cardinal-Priest of S. Liborio]
Episcopal Service
On 6 October 1992, Turkson was appointed Archbishop of Cape Coast by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on 27 March 1993 from Archbishop Dominic Kodwo Andoh, with Archbishops Peter Poreku Dery and Peter Kwasi Sarpong serving as co-consecrators. He served as President of the Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference from 1997 to 2005, and as Chancellor of the Catholic University College of Ghana since 2003.
John Paul II created him Cardinal-Priest of S. Liborio in the consistory of 21 October 2003. Tukson is the first Ghanaian cardinal, and was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave, which selected Pope Benedict XVI. He was described as “one of Africa’s most energetic church leaders” by a UK Catholic magazine.
Within the Roman Curia, he serves as a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church. An accomplished polyglot, Turkson is able to speak English, Fante, French, Italian, German, and Hebrew, in addition to understanding Latin and Greek.