By Theresa Carson
On May 24, Most Rev. Robert Lombardo CFR, auxiliary bishop of Chicago, presided over the priestly ordination of six Divine Word Missionaries at Holy Child Jesus Church in Chicago. The Society of the Divine Word Chicago Province presents a series about the newly ordained priests. Today, we spotlight Father Betenora Bako Liba SVD.
In an hour-long conversation, Father Betenora Bako Liba used the term “plurality” half a dozen times. The concept undergirds his life philosophy.
Pluralism, as defined by Merriam Webster, is “a state of society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups maintain and develop their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civilization.”
Father Bako Liba’s knowledge of languages alone belies his roots in pluralism. He is fluent in Nawdm, Ewe, Kabya, French, English and Portuguese and can read German, Russian, Ecclesiastical Latin and Biblical Greek.
The son of a high school French teacher and a hotel manager, he inherited his father’s gift for language.
The youngest of three sons, Father Bako Liba was born in Sokodé, one of Togo’s largest cities. The family moved to Kada, a village in northern Togo. When he was five, his family moved back to Sokodé. Later, he lived in Lomé, the capital on the Gulf of Guinea with a population of 2.2 million. In each place, he encountered people of different ethnic groups and religious backgrounds.
He had Catholic friends in Kara, where he attended elementary school, and Muslim friends in Sokodé, where he attended secondary school.
“In the long run, it has shaped me,” he said with a serenity that is rare for someone only 30. “I enjoyed that diversity without knowing the gift it would be to me.”
He described his childhood as carefree and one in which Sunday Mass was obligatory. He also experienced God’s call early in life.
“When I was a child, playing with my brothers, I would impersonate a priest,” he said.
His vocation revealed itself steadily. During his second year of high school, Father Bako Liba became more involved in his home parish. He joined the parish’s vocations group, which helped young people discern life’s path in accordance with God’s will. It was here that he first considered the depth of his calling to the priesthood.
The religious sister who accompanied the group had a cousin who was a member of the Society of the Divine Word. Through her, he met a vocations director.
However, like many teenagers, he hoped the desire for priesthood would disappear. “I was resistant and studied mechanical engineering for a year,” he admitted.
At the same time, he was drawn to the Society of the Divine Word. “I wanted a sense of plurality,” he said. “I was attracted to the communal approach to community life and diversity.”
In 2016, Father Bako Liba earned a bachelor’s degree in epistemology and philosophy of science from Institut supérieur de Philosophie et des Sciences Humaines (ISPSH) Don Bosco in Lomé and entered the Society of the Divine Word novitiate.
He expected to continue seminary studies in Ghana, but to his surprise, his superiors chose him and two other Divine Word Missionaries to go to the United States. The thought had not crossed his mind before then.
In 2019, he professed first vows at Techny and enrolled at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
His world travels continued. He completed the Cross-Cultural Training Program (CTP) by serving as a missionary in Brazil.
For a year, he lived in São Paulo while learning the Portuguese language. Then, he served in Brasilia before being assigned to the State of Rôndonia in West Central Brazil on the border of Bolivia.
He worked in the formation of liturgical readers and altar servers, as well as planning activities for SVD lay partners, furthering the Biblical apostolate and attending to people in rural communities.
“For me, the experience of Brazil has been mission work done in collaboration,” he said. “Mission happens in collaboration with laypeople and confreres as well, encouraging each other to bring our gifts in the service of God’s people.”
When asked how formation has changed him, he replied, “I’ve grown in understanding myself and appreciating the gifts that family and place have given me—an appreciation of diversity, growth as a person and the ability to expand the gift of the plurality of the world.”
A self-described introvert, he said that going to Brazil challenged him. Brazilian people tend to be very engaging, he said.
“I found new mechanisms besides talking to say, ‘I’m present,’” he said. “The first act of mission work is to listen deeply.”
Last autumn, he began his final school year at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and was ordained as a transitional deacon. For six months, he served Our Lady of Africa parish in Chicago. He called that time “a transformative experience—a year of experiences and blessed moments.”
He continued, “African spirituality has taken root here. Their faith has led to transformation.”
He said he gained an even greater appreciation of African American history and how it led to vibrant and dynamic interaction with God.
“I developed ministry abilities [to better serve the African American community], such as how to preach, to be more sensitive to their ministerial needs as a community, [engage in] social justice ministries, seeing connections between being Black in America and African on the African continent and seeing commonalities.”
As a parting thought, he added, “God is not far from any one of us. This is a thought that I carry with me as I move on.”
For his first assignment, Father Bako Liba will remain in the Chicago Province and serve Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa.