His Eminence Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and Social Sciences at the Vatican, has counseled clergy and prophets to engage in prayer and intercession before publicly declaring any prophecies, especially those forecasting calamity.
This advice follows a directive from Presidential Envoy Elvis Afriyie Ankrah of the Interfaith and Ecumenical Relations Office, stating that prophecies or spiritual insights concerning prominent political figures, governance, national security, or public order must be formally submitted for immediate evaluation.
The directive was issued on Sunday, August 10, after social media videos circulated subsequent to the August 6 helicopter crash that resulted in eight fatalities, including two cabinet ministers.
In an interview with Citi News on Wednesday, August 13, on the margins of a press conference before the August 22 inauguration of the John Kofi Turkson Memorial Institute in the Central Region—honouring his late brother who perished in the 2000 Kenya Airways Flight 431 crash in Abidjan—Cardinal Turkson emphasised the necessity of spiritual prudence.
“If a prophecy reveals the possibility of disaster, your first act should be to intercede with God before announcing it,” he said.
“When God shared with Abraham His intent to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham pleaded for mercy. Likewise, if God shares such knowledge with you, pray first and ask for His intervention.”
The Cardinal also cautioned against leveraging prophecies to establish spiritual dominance, noting the challenge in assessing a prophet’s credibility. “It is interesting when people advise others to listen only to credible prophets, but who defines credibility, and by what criteria? These are questions that need answers. In any case, 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.
