"I couldn't tell you where Ghana was on the map, six or seven years ago. And yet the Holy Spirit brought us together here," the doctor recounted.
Four years ago Cardinal Turkson took him to Rome, where he had a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI.
"To be able to kneel before the Holy Father and promise to devote my life to this work of helping the poor in Africa was a very emotional, very special thing," Marotta said.
Pope Francis also knows of Medicus Christi. Last October, the Papal Foundation made a $50,000 grant to the project.
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Cardinal Turkson has become a mentor for the doctor. When Marotta voiced his doubts, frustrations and worries at the project's progress, the cardinal would encourage him. The cardinal would cite the example of Jesus Christ's apostles, the "timid souls" who began huddled in a room and fearing for their lives, but relied on the Holy Spirit to change the world.
"He's really an extraordinary man," Marotta said of Cardinal Turkson. "He's a man obviously of tremendous faith and intellect. And yet he is a tremendous pastoral minister."
Cardinal Turkson is a board member of Medicus Christi, as is Bishop Edward Scharfenberger of Albany. Several Franciscan priests and brothers associated with Siena College in Albany are also assisting with the project. Marotta is an alumnus of the college, which he has served as a doctor for the sports team. He also treated many of the friars.
Marotta said Catholic Church sponsorship for Medicus Christi, especially the cardinal's involvement, helps protect supplies from being stolen for sale on the black market or for political appropriation. The project's planned use of the established, trusted Catholic health system in Ghana makes it much more likely to succeed.
Marotta also has ambitions for Medicus Christi to spread medical training throughout Africa.
"We intend to become the center of orthopedic education for the entire continent of Africa, bringing in surgeons and nurses and therapists to our center in Ghana to train them in techniques so they can go back and use these skills for their own people."
"Right now there is nothing that exists like this in Africa," he added. "When we are done we will be the largest orthopedic hospital in Africa and the only orthopedic training center of its kind in the developing world."
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Marotta's project is working with the New York-based Giving to Ghana Foundation, which supports projects in the Diocese of Sunyani. Medicus Christi has raised enough funds to begin groundbreaking on its first phase: an orthopedic surgery and outpatient center addition to the present hospital.
The doctor asked for prayers for the project. He appealed for medical expert volunteers who can spend 2-3 weeks working in Ghana for caregiving and training.
He especially appealed for funds, saying financial support can "do a world of good."
The Medicus Christi website is at medicuschristi.org.
This article was originally published January 15, 2016.
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.