The National Cathedral of Ghana is a planned interdenominational Christian

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

scheduled to be built in

Accra Accra (; tw, Nkran; dag, Ankara; gaa, Ga or ''Gaga'') is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , ...

, the nation's capital, as part of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

's 60th anniversary celebration. A 9-acre landscaped garden area next to Osu Cemetery will house the cathedral. The design for the cathedral was unveiled by the

President of Ghana The president of the Republic of Ghana is the elected head of state and head of government of Ghana, as well as commander-in-chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. The current president of Ghana is Nana Akufo-Addo, who won the 2020 presidential elec ...

Nana Akufo-Addo Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who has served as the president of Ghana since 7 January 2017. In 2020, he was re-elected for his second term, which will end on 6 January 2025. Akufo-Addo previously ...

, in March 2018. It is set to be commissioned on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, according to the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori Atta.

Design

The cathedral will have an auditorium capable of seating 5,000 as well as the requisite

chapels A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common type ...

and a

baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

. The site will also house a music school, an art gallery, and a museum dedicated to the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

. The design of the cathedral reflects the art and culture of Ghanaian ethnic groups; the high-pitched and staggered roof is reminiscent of Akan-inspired architecture and the

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

will be concave and decorated with timber in imitation of Ashanti royal stools. The architect for the project is the British-Ghanaian architect David Adjaye, who also designed the

Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...

Reception and debate

In an opinion piece for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', art historian

Chika Okeke-Agulu Chika Okeke-Agulu () is a Nigerian artist, art historian, art curator, and blogger specializing in African and African diaspora art history. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey. Biography Chika Okeke-Agulu was born in Umuahia in Nigeria in 19 ...

wrote that the cathedral "...signals that the country is poised to consolidate the gains of decades of democracy," adding that it would "inspire ambitious civic architecture projects across the continent that harness the talents of Africa's emerging artists This Accra commission is not just a recognition by his homeland of Mr. Adjaye acclaim. It also signifies that Africa can build a major work by a leading architect at the top of his game." A 2018 article from the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

'' covered the backlash within Ghana coming from those who saw the $100 million project as a " white elephant" and a low priority. Yaw Nsarkoh, executive vice president of Unilever for Ghana and Nigeria, was quoted as saying "At a time when taxes are going up, banks have collapsed,and you can't pay for social programmes, is it really the thing to do to build a cathedral?" Other figures disagreed, such as Edward Effah, chairman of Ghana's largest bank, who said "You can't say: 'Until we are wealthy, we cannot afford national pride'", to rebut these concerns. A 2022 article in

Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

noted that the cathedral's original price tag of $100 million had quadrupled amid record

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reductio ...

and the devaluation of

cedi The cedi ( ) (currency sign: GH₵; currency code: GHS) is the unit of currency of Ghana. It is the fourth historical and only current legal tender in the Republic of Ghana. One cedi is divided into one hundred pesewas (Gp). After independenc ...

in 2022. By 2022, the

Ghanaian government The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

had spent over $58 million on the cathedral, with about half of it going to Adjaye's architecture firm. In July 2023, Samuel Abu Jinapor, the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources stated during a session in parliament that institutions that were destroyed to build the cathedral had been compensated.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official National Cathedral of Ghana siteRenders of the proposed cathedral at Dezeen
Presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo Cathedrals in Ghana Churches in Accra Proposed buildings and structures in Ghana David Adjaye buildings Churches in Ghana