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

In brief

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 (RECOWA) told the gathering that while the desire for happiness is a normal human trait, young people often seek it through things that cannot satisfy the human heart.

Bishop Touabli said that material goods have a place in life and that God does not intend for people to live in misery. However, he cautioned that because material possessions are temporary, they cannot provide complete fulfillment. He warned that when material goods occupy too much space in a person's life, it leads to slavery and idolatry.