Boomtown church

摘要

On the fourth Sunday in Lent, gospel hymns radiate down quiet streets along Ghana's coast. A five-piece band welcomes the incense-bearing priest to the altar in a simple Catholic church on a hill above the Atlantic. The band aside, the mass is traditional. Hymns alternate with readings from the Book of Joshua. The parishioners look on intently, occasionally roused to their feet for a brief burst of singing and clapping. Here in Cape Coast Peter Turkson cut his teeth two decades ago as a church leader. Now a cardinal, the 64-year-old had been fancied as a potential pope, underlining the church's rapid rise in Africa. According to the Vatican, Africa has 186m Catholics, 16% of the global flock, a more than sixfold increase in number from half a century ago.