Fr. Benjamin Owusu, OFM, is a Franciscan Friar from Ghana, in West Africa and has being living in the Holy Land since 1995. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 2002 in Jerusalem, where he was also trained. As a member of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Fr. Ben started his service in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and has served in many other shrines before dedicating himself to the service of pilgrims.

Fr. Ben has served in the Nativity Church in Bethlehem, the Visitation Church in Ein Kerem and the Church of the Primacy of St. Peter on the Sea of Galilee. He also served at St. Anthony Parish in Jaffa, Tel Aviv, where he ministered to migrant workers from the Philippines, India, Africa and other parts of the developing world. While in the parish he used to accompany the faithful to the various shrines so they could experience the Gospel in the land of Our Lord.

The monthly visits to the holy sites with the guest workers inspired him to accept the proposal to be at the service of the Italian pilgrims, then English, then French and now Spanish. After almost ten years of service to the many pilgrims, Fr. Ben has learned to understand and to appreciate the fact that our service to God’s people is not limited to the parish alone…and so he refers to his fellow friars in the ministry as “The one-week parish priests.” This service to pilgrims had been a faith-sharing experience and it has helped him to grow spiritually.