His Eminence Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson has called on the clergy and prophets to exercise spiritual responsibility by seeking God’s intervention before publicly announcing prophecies that foretell disaster.
Speaking to Citi News on Wednesday, August 13, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences at the Vatican stressed that when a revelation points to potential calamity, the first response should be prayer.
“If a prophecy reveals the possibility of disaster, your first act should be to intercede with God before announcing it,” he advised.
Drawing from the biblical account of Abraham pleading for mercy when God revealed His intent to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Cardinal Turkson encouraged prophets to follow the same example. “Likewise, if God shares such knowledge with you, pray first and ask for His intervention,” he said.
He also raised questions about the common advice to heed only “credible” prophets, asking who determines credibility and by what standards.
“Wherever prophecies occur and God makes His knowledge known to you, consider the content carefully. If it requires intervention, please do that before communicating it to anyone,” he added.
Cardinal Turkson made these remarks on the sidelines of a press conference ahead of the August 22 inauguration of the John Kofi Turkson Memorial Institute in the Central Region, named after his late brother who perished in the 2000 Kenya Airways Flight 431 crash in Abidjan.
His comments come in the wake of a new directive from the Presidential Envoy for the Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations Office, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah, requiring that any prophecy or spiritual insight involving high-profile political leaders, governance, national security, or public stability be formally submitted for urgent assessment.
The directive, issued on Sunday, August 10, follows viral social media videos linked to the aftermath of the August 6 helicopter crash that claimed eight lives, including two cabinet ministers.
