FOUNDER PROFILE

“Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. May the Lord bless you from Zion and may His face shine upon you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”.

These were Bishop Joseph Oliver Bowers, SVD famous invocation to God the Father whenever he gave his blessing. Those words were his ministerial bedrock that earned him the historic and heroic Pastor, Bishop and Missionary honors in the Catholic Church in the United States of America, Ghana, and his mother country Rouseau Dominica, and in the Catholic Church at large. He was honored with the ORDER OF THE VOLTA by the Ghana Government.

Bishop Bowers a native of Dominica was born March 28, 1910 to Sheriff Montague Bowers and Mary Bowers. His father was a famous head teacher of the Massacre Government Primary School, and organist at the St. Ann's Parish. There was no doubt that Bishop developed great love for God because of the faith of his parents.

He was also influenced by a Redemptorist priest in a Parish he served as an altar boy. His Divine encounters gave him strength and help to respond to his gift of priesthood. An inspiration which led him not only to become a priest, but to build his trust and confidence in the Divine Redeemer, a named which he eventually gave to a Congregation he founded.

Upon completing his Secondary education at the Dominica Grammar School, he began his missionary journey by moving to the United States of America in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi to join the Society of the Divine Word Missions, SVD in St. Augustine’s Seminary. He professed his first vows in 1933, ordained to the priesthood in 1939, and in 1953, was ordained a bishop by His Eminence Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York; he was appointed the bishop of then Diocese of Accra, Ghana. In January 16, 1971, he was appointed the bishop of the Diocese of St. Johns-Basseterre in the Caribbean and finally retired from that position in July 17, 1981. Bishop Bowers in his pastoral works focused on the liberation and development of the vulnerable in society. He identified himself with the people he pastured by their names, witnessed the gospel through his faith, life and service. Even in his old age, bishop after long years of moving to the Caribbean could remember many of the Catechists who worked with in various places. His love for God and the Divine Redeemer is evident in the many schools, hospitals and clinics and churches that he built to liberate human suffering to strengthen and develop humanity.

Bishop Bowers trekked from Accra to many parts of Krobo area to reach out to God’s people in different capacities, a mission he carried with loving care and dynamism to benefit the poor and vulnerable in society. He built many churches and schools including: Pope John’s Scondary School and Minor Seminary, Koforidua, St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, Accra, St. Peter’s Secondary School, Nkwatia, St. Paul Technical School, Kukurantumi; Mount Mary College, Somanya, St. Rose’s Secondary School, Akwatia, St. Mary’s Secondary School, Korle Gonno, Accra, St. Anne’s Vocational Institute, Nuaso, St Agatha’s Hostel, Akim-Swedru and St Theresa’s boarding school, now Our Lady of Fatima boarding school. He also opened hospitals and clinics in various places which include; St. Dominic Hospital, Akwatia, Holy Family Hospital, Nkawkaw, Catholic Hospital Battor and St. Martin Hospital, Agomanya and clinics in Ofoase, Ntronang and Akim Swedru all in eastern region of Ghana. Bishop’s priestly ministry stretched through, now Archdiocese of Accra, Koforidua and Donkorkrom.

Bishop Bowers felt the need for strengthening and developing women, therefore he founded the Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer of Accra (HDR) to fulfill his vison. He built on the foundation laid by Bishop Noser who in 1952 attempted to form a Congregation by gathering together some aspirants for initial formation prior to his transfer in 1954. His focus on women development was because he believed in the adage of Dr. James Kwegyir Aggrey that “if you educate a man you educate an individual and if you educate a woman you educate a nation and a household.” Therefore the Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer’s dedication to caring and comforting the poor underscores the fact that it is not possible to engage in women’s affairs without considering its implications for children, sick, orphans and the aged. This is because women are the pillars in child caring and home makers.

Challenges at the formation period of the Congregation were inevitable, because many people did not believe anything good could come from his efforts. However by the grace of God, his trust in the Divine Redeemer and the continual relying on the support of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a devotion very dear to his heart, Bishop overcame all these challenges. In February 2, 1957 he received the needed permission from Rome for the foundation of the Congregation Regardless of the opposing views Bishop encountered, he also received significant support from certain quarters such as; the Missionary Sisters- Servants of the Holy Spirit, SSps, precisely, Mother Providencia Hein who became the Co-Founderess of HDR, Sisters Virginia, Patrice and Defensora as well as Rev. Fathers George Wilson, Albert Bernard Ato, Krestchmer and Charles Schneider.

Bishop was spiritual and a moral person; a man of integrity, simplicity and intelligent. His reliability on Divine providence made him to understand the needs of humanity, a value he emphasized at all times. He said, “as a Handmaid, you should be ready to serve”. His tenderly love was immeasurable as many who came to him never left without smile on their faces. He was a person of hope to many especially, the HDRs (his daughters). He showed so much love to the congregation, enquired about the affairs of the Congregation and the Sister’s well-being. He was really abreast with the affairs of the congregation even in his old age. No wonder when he was asked by the Ambassador Plennipotentiary and Extraordinary, Dr. Joseph Cuthbert of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago: “Bishop what legacy will you live behind?; the Bishop without hesitation answered, “my daughters, the Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer of Accra in Ghana”.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Andoh worked towards the idea of members having full participation in the governance of the Congregation. Accordingly, the first General Chapter was held in September 1981. Mother Vincentia Mensah, HDR was elected the first Superior General.

In 1997, Bishop Bowers returned to his beloved Ghana on an invitation to participate in the Congregation’s Ruby jubilee after which he never went back to Dominica and lived under the care of the Handmaids of the Divine Redeemer Sister, until his passing in November 2012. He lived up to the age of 102.

It is remarkable to note that Bishop Joseph Oliver Bowers was the first black man in the 20th century to be ordained a bishop in the United States and the first black Bishop in now Archdiocese of Accra and to crown it all, the oldest Bishop of the world prior to his death in 2012 at age 102. His legacy will forever be remembered.