ORTHODOX | CHRISTIANS | ARCHBISHOP 

KAMPALA - Orthodox Christians have been asked to pray for the Church to conclude well the process of getting the new Archbishop of the Metropolis of Kampala and All Uganda.

The prayer was made by the Dean of St. Nicholas Cathedral Namungoona, Fr. Dr. Nicholas Bayego, during the Holy Mass to celebrate the New Year which was the first time in so many years the Metropolis had no Shepherd.

“Use this period to pray for the process the church is going through to get us a Bishop. On January 10, 2022 the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Africa will begin to convene up to January 13, 2022 to discuss several issues among them including electing the new Archbishop,” Said Fr. Bayego.

The New Metropolitan will be in the footsteps of the late Archbishop Metropolitan Jonah Lwanga who died on September 5, 2021, in Athens Hospital in Greece, leaving Metropolis and the country in total shock.

Since then, the Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, His Beatitude Theodorus II appointed Metropolitan Makarios II, the Archbishop of Nairobi and All Kenya as the Caretaker Bishop of Kampala.

According to the church law, all unmarried priests stand a chance to be elected to this responsibility and notable amongst them include Bp. Silvester Kisitu (Gulu and the whole of Eastern Uganda), Metropolitan Innocentios Byakatonda (Archbishop of Burundi, Rwanda and the whole of Eastern Congo), Metropolitan Jeronymos Muzeeyi (Archbishop of Mwanza- Tanzania), Archimandrite Constantine Mbonabingi (acting Vicar General of Uganda Orthodox Church and the Secretary General of UJCC), Archimandrite Prodromos Lubega and Archimandrite Nectarios Kabuye.

Fr. Bayego also cautioned Ugandans to not be taken away by the full opening of the economy and relax the fight against COVID-19, something he said will be suicidal because the opening has been done in a crucial period when the pandemic is regaining more ground with high cases reported nowadays.

On corruption and Violence in elections, Fr. Bayego said, the two issues have set a bad example to the nationals particularly the young ones.

“What happened in Kayunga LC5 by-elections was a disgrace to the nation. The violence, vote-rigging and mal-practises are bad for the country’s democratic process. We need as a country to find a better way of avoiding such in other elections to come,” Fr. Bayego advised.