By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Father Clement Beeri
Father Clement Beeri, a diocesan priest from Ghana who has worked in Hawaii for the past two years, celebrates his 25th anniversary of ordination this year.
The interim administrator of St. John the Baptist Church, Kalihi, was ordained for the Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga, on Aug. 10, 1996.
“I feel so very blessed to be called to serve in God’s vineyard, despite my weaknesses,” Father Beeri told the Hawaii Catholic Herald by phone May 6. “Being a priest has helped me touch the lives of people in various ways, especially through the celebration of the sacraments.”
Father Beeri is the oldest of three brothers and three sisters, the children of Aweh and Kubate Beeri. He turns 55 in October.
In Ghana, a small country on the coast of west Africa, Father Beeri served as a parish priest at St. Francis Xavier Church in the town of Wiaga, the birthplace of his bishop, Bishop Alfred Agyenta.
He came to work as a missionary priest to Hawaii after asking his bishop if he could take a sabbatical. Bishop Agyenta instead suggested he take a missionary assignment in Hawaii.
“He said it would be an opportunity to broaden my horizons,” Father Beeri said.
The Diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga already had a relationship with the Diocese of Honolulu having sent two priests here earlier, Father Moses Akebule and Father Joseph Ayinpuusa.
Father Beeri arrived in the islands on July 1, 2019. He first served as a parochial vicar of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in Honolulu. He is now the interim administrator of St. John the Baptist Church. He has a five-year contract with the diocese.
Hawaii is “wonderful!” he said.
Commenting on the differences between Hawaii and Ghana, he said, “things are more organized here, more structured.” In Ghana, you don’t have to make an appointment to go to confession, Father Beeri said, you just knock on the rectory door.
He laughed that he would probably make people angry if he ended Mass in an hour in Ghana, where two hours is more the norm.
During this jubilee year of thanksgiving “I truly appreciate God’s love and support,” he said, “and I am grateful for the lay faithful who have supported me spiritually and materially.”
Editor’s note: Father Beeri was inadvertently not included in the annual diocesan celebration of clergy and religious anniversaries April 24 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
