On the afternoon of Friday, 16 January 2026, the Superior General, Fr. Stanley Lubungo, M.Afr., welcomed the Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the Holy See, H.E. Ben Batabe Assorow, to the Generalate of the Society of Missionaries of Africa in Rome.
Ambassador Assorow is a native of Navrongo, the very first place in Ghana where the Missionaries of Africa arrived in 1906. The church in Navrongo is now known as the Seven Sorrows Minor Basilica. The Missionaries of Africa are still present in the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga, serving in three places: St. Joseph Parish in Soe (Bolgatanga), Our Lady of Hope Parish in Bunkpurugu, and St. Simon Peter Rectorate in Nakpanduri. They also serve in the Archdioceses of Accra and Tamale, and in the Dioceses of Konongo-Mampong and Wa.
H.E. Assorow was received in audience by Pope Leo XIV on 13 November 2025, upon the presentation of his Letters of Credence. Confreres at the Generalate noted that upon arriving in Rome for his new mission, the Ambassador came to pray privately in one of the chapels at the Generalate of the Missionaries of Africa.
It is also worth noting that Benedict Batabe Assorow is the immediate past Communications Director of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). In 2022, SECAM was headed by the late Cardinal Richard Bawoobr, M.Afr., a former Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa and predecessor to the current Superior General, Fr. Stanley Lubungo.
This official meeting between the Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana to the Holy See and the Superior General of the Missionaries of Africa stands as a witness to the legacy and ongoing commitment of the Apostolic Society founded by Cardinal Charles Lavigerie for the evangelization of Africa and the African world.
By: Serge Zihalirwa Boroto, M.Afr.