First West African Youth Day in Ghana: RECOWA President Warns Against Modern Forms of “idolatry”

Bishop Alexis Youlo Touabli warned young Catholics at the first West African Youth Day in Ghana that material wealth, pleasure, power, and digital technology can become modern forms of idolatry. Speaking during a morning Mass on Wednesday, September 9, the president of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa cautioned that pursuing happiness through these temporary things fails to satisfy the deepest human desires.

Bishop Touabli told the gathering that while the desire for happiness is a normal and legitimate human trait, the danger lies in what people choose as the source of that happiness. He noted that while material goods have a place in life and God does not intend for people to live in misery, relying on them for complete fulfillment leads to slavery and idolatry because they are temporary.