The muted light of an African sunset filters into the high, pointed roof of Christ The King church in Accra, a wide, understated building just metres away from the seat of government in Ghana's capital city. Outside is one of the longest traffic jams in the country, but the rush hour chaos of filthy exhaust fumes, street hawkers and traffic police is somehow blocked out in the church, where densely packed pews of worshippers are cooled soothingly by the whirring of two dozen fans.

It is evening mass on Ash Wednesday and smart Accra residents have trickled towards Christ the King until even the chairs outside are full. Each one dips their fingers in holy water at the door, bows or curtseys before the statue of an alabaster Virgin Mary, and sits quietly in prayer or contemplation waiting for the service to start.

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