Honour Pope Francis by eliminating sectarianism

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OPINION

By Sam Orikunda

As a spiritual head of the Catholic church, Pope Francis would have chosen to mind the affairs of the Catholic Church only. He would have chosen to sideline other faiths and ignore their leaders since his job was to lead the Catholic faith and have no business with other religions. However, he did the opposite. 

Pope Francis looked for the critics of the Catholic church, dined with them and asked them to work together.

There are lots of pictures on the Internet of Pope Francis meeting different leaders of different religions. In doing so, the pope must have disappointed so many people whose attention is always on the religions to which they belong. In fostering unity, the Pontiff followed the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Jesus never segregated throughout his ministry.

Jesus dined with those the society described as unfit, those who believed in him and those who didn't. That is why he had problems with the people later.  Pope Francis has met with the Muslims, the Anglicans, the Orthodox, and so many others.

At one time, I read that he was forging a way of having Anglicans share holy communion with the Catholics.  That when an Anglican goes to the Catholic church, he can have holy communion and vice versa. I don't know how far that proposal reached, but it was a good one. After all, these two are not different.

Most people do not decide which faith they should belong to. The decisions are usually made by parents. By the time we grow to understand and make decisions for ourselves, we find ourselves belonging to a certain faith.

Later, some people decide to be radical; they decide to be more Catholics than the Pope, and some want to be more Anglican than the head of the Anglican faith in the world. They discriminate and look down on those who do not subscribe to their faith. This is wrong, and it is a clear misunderstanding of the religion.  For example, which faith does God belong to?

When we die, where do we go? I am told the Catholics, the Anglicans, and the Muslims all work hard to go to heaven, and when they go to heaven, they find one God. This means that we worship and belong to one God.

It doesn't matter which path one will use to reach heaven. Will God judge us based on which faith we practised when we were still alive? I don't think so.

God looks at the heart and not at the faith, I don't think he wants to know if someone was a committed Anglican or Catholic.  He will want to know if the person did well when he was living. God wants us to treat all people fairly without discrimination.

We read in history that in the past, Uganda was divided based on faith. The UPC belonged to the Anglicans while the DP belonged to the Catholics. President Museveni tells us that none of these would get the majority of the votes because there's no faith or tribe that can make 50% of the population of Uganda.  That is how some sides would choose to rig, and this caused political instability for many years.

We read in history that the conflict even led to the death of people. When President Museveni took power, I think he understood the problem of the country at that time, and that is why he decided to front unity over sectarianism. 

He has, for all these years, discouraged the politics of identity. The president is on point because sectarianism has sent many countries in the world into civil wars, and some have never tasted peace.  This could easily happen in Uganda if we are not careful and if we don't avoid what happened in Uganda in the past.

In Kigezi today, things are different. Politicians and religious leaders are up in arms over religion. The politicians take advantage of the already built church structures to do mobilisation.

They ask people to vote for them because they belong to their faith. They pose as the only hope of their sect, and they tell people that without them, nobody will ever listen to them or handle their problems.

Unfortunately, our people are easily hoodwinked, and they offer support. Later, other sects feel neglected and betrayed.

They also decide to front a candidate who subscribes to their faith. This has created conflict over time because of this kind of politicking. In fact, it will not be news if people attack each other and cause assaults on themselves in the coming general elections. 

The bad vice of sectarianism is growing in Kigezi, and if something isn't done, the worst is about to happen. Once someone is voted into a certain position, they should be serving everyone.

Nobody should feel neglected or sidelined during their tenure of leadership unless that person doesn't understand the principles of leadership. 

In 2021, some people in the central region fronted a faith and their tribe.

They successfully misled the population, and so many important figures were voted out. From the time they were voted in, no service delivery in their constituencies, and the people were crying. 

They will be voted out in the coming elections. Those leaders should draw lessons from the late pontiff, they should understand that they were not more holy than the Catholic church head. They should be told that the community has the same challenges. If it is poverty, its effects affect everyone. It doesn't ask if you're Anglican or Catholic.  It doesn't ask if you're a Muganda or not.

The writer is the Deputy RDC Sheema District.