Hundreds of Catholics and other mourners from far and near, including government officials both past and present, the religious community, and sympathizers, trooped the Sacred Heart Cathedral Catholic Church yesterday, where they bade farewell to Liberia’s oldest clergy, Robert Gbatiae Tikpor.
He was 97 years old when he was called to eternal rest by the Lord on Thursday, August 31, at the St Joseph’s Catholic Hospital, following a long period of illness in Monrovia.
In his homily during the funeral mass, the Diocesan Administrator of the Catholic Church, Monsignor Gabriel Blamo Jebwe said Tikpor played his part by serving his God well and transitioned to rest with Him having done his work on earth, and so it shall be with every human being.
He said the late priest’s service on earth touched the life of everyone, not only in Liberia, but the world over, having dedicated his entire life to serving God through the church in particular, and mankind in general, for 60 years, and shall never be forgotten by thousands of his followers and admirers globally.
Jebwe’s word of liturgy came from the Catholic Bible, Wisdom, Chapter 4, verses 4-15, and 1st Corinthians 15: 20-23, thereby recounting the deceased’s contributions, saying he represented the generation of older people as a dedicated and faithful servant of God who taught them lots of things, including farming, not only just philosophy as a priest.
“Tikpor taught many of us who were young priests then, farming life and a lot more, and not just philosophy as a priest. Because as a priest, Tikpor shared with the people, he suffered their pain and everything any one could think about, until he was called by God to rest with him,” the Catholic Priest noted.
On national issues, Jebwe said Tikpor was a fearless speaker who spoke truth to power without fear or favor, particularly when came to social justice, rule of law, and respect for elders in the country, stating that the late reverend was a man of no equal.
During the service, there were several institutions, organizations, as well as close friends of Tikpor, who paid their last respects to the second indigenous Catholic but the oldest Catholic priest in the country’s contemporary history.
Among them were the government, Liberia Council of Churches or Inter-Religious Council of Liberia, Religious Brothers and Sisters and All Priests, Catholic Church in Liberia, as well as the Saint Kizito Catholic Church, of which Tikpor was Head Priest.
Others were former President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Togba-Nah Tipoteh, Pearl Brown-Bull, the family, and many.
Tikpor who was buried in Brewerville, on the outskirts of Monrovia was born on Sunday, September 12, 1926, in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Liberian parents who sent him to his grandmother at an early age in lower Buchanan, Grand Bassa County.
In 2001, Tikpor was retired from active service, having reached the canonical age (75) for retirement. Notwithstanding, he remained in active service at the St. Kizito Parish in Paynesville, Montserrado County.
During this period, he was supported by a younger priest, until his physical strength failed.
Like other places he worked and the lives he touched, the parishioners of St Kizito are profoundly appreciative of his developmental initiatives, pastoral solicitude and compassionate love for the people.
He was ordained into the priesthood in 1961, thereby spending over 60 of his earthly years in the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church, not only in Liberia, but globally.
