Could you start by introducing yourself?
My name is Nora, and I am from Ghana. I am a senior lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where I have been teaching for several years in the Department of Religion and Human Development.
As a theological and comparative ethicist, I also offer my expertise to the Church when needed. In addition, I work closely with young people, supporting them in their social lives and encouraging them to contribute to social transformation.
You have been part of the Synod. Can you talk about your experience?
I have been involved in the Synod process from the grassroots through the continental stages and finally to the global level. My experience was deeply enriching, marked above all by encounters and relationships.
For the first time, I felt what it truly means to be the Catholic Church: a community made up of laity, clergy, religious, young and old, men and women, from different rites and with different abilities. All were present to share conversations about our faith.
What enriched me most was the listening and learning from one another’s perspectives. I realised that the Church is a complex web of relationships where our differences are not barriers but gifts that can make us wiser, more knowledgeable, and more understanding of the world we are called to serve.
What did you take away from that experience?
For me, the greatest lesson was the concept of co-responsibility. The Second Vatican Council teaches that all of us, by virtue of our baptism, share in Christ’s priestly, prophetic and kingly mission. Pope Francis reminds us that baptism gives us a missionary dignity, sending us out as disciples to evangelise, to make Christ known, and to share the joy of the Gospel.
This means everyone is equally responsible for the mission of the Church, even though we serve in different capacities and roles. That understanding should guide us as we move forward: all of us matter, and all of us count.
You speak with such passion about this. How do you live your mission in practical ways?
Faith is both communal and personal. I was born into a Catholic family and credit my parents for my early faith. But at some point, I had to make it my own, not just my parents’ faith, but mine.
Living faith personally does not mean living it in isolation. To be Christian is to be in relationship. We live and witness to our faith within the community, working together to spread what we believe.
For me, faith is more than words, it is about encounter, and encounter must be transformative. Our relationship with Jesus Christ calls us to action, to bring positive change in society, to stand against injustice and cruelty. Witness is as important as words.
I strive to live my faith beyond the walls of the Church, so that it has an impact on people’s daily lives. As a theologian and ethicist, I always emphasise that Christianity must make a difference in the real world.
All people are created in the image and likeness of God. A personal relationship with Jesus shapes how we live our faith in relation to others. In today’s world, we need to listen to one another and, above all, to the Holy Spirit, who teaches us that we are a people of encounter, called to relate, to learn, and to uphold human dignity.
