At the Catholic University of Ghana’s 25th Congregation and 38th Matriculation Ceremony on Saturday, October 24, 2026, Chancellor Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson urged students to adopt compassion and collective responsibility as they face a world of conflict, technological disruption and uncertainty.
Speaking from the podium in Fiapre, near Sunyani, the cardinal highlighted that university education must go beyond academic achievement to instil ethical values and prepare graduates to contribute meaningfully to society. He welcomed 1,810 new students and congratulated 2,806 graduates, including the university’s first PhD graduate, Dr Godfred Etse Klugah.
Drawing on the VUCA framework – volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity – Cardinal Turkson proposed a more human response. He urged students to replace volatility with vulnerability, uncertainty with unlearning, complexity with compassion and ambiguity with answerability. “The religious twist gives an ethical content to everything that seeks to transform the volatility, the uncertainty, the complexity and the ambiguity into something more human and more ethical,” he said.
He stressed that recognising vulnerability should encourage people to seek and offer support rather than face life’s challenges alone. “We are vulnerable, and because we’re vulnerable, we need to support each other with the common wisdom that we develop and acquire here,” the cardinal told the gathering.
Cardinal Turkson also warned against reducing human beings to figures and numbers in the age of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. He cited conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Sudan, alongside rapid technological and economic changes, as examples of the difficult environment young people must navigate.
On answerability, he said students must be willing to account for their choices. “In providing answers for everything that we do, we show responsibility, we show maturity,” he added.
The Bono Regional Minister, Joseph Addae Akwaboa, called on the university to strengthen practical learning, digital skills and industry partnerships to prepare students for the changing job market. He highlighted the No Fee Stress Initiative and urged the university to use research and innovation to address youth unemployment, agricultural productivity, sanitation and public health challenges.
As the ceremony concluded, Cardinal Turkson encouraged both newly admitted students and graduates to make the most of their university experience and to carry the lessons of compassion and responsibility beyond campus walls.
