Catholics from western Uganda, under the organization of Mbarara Ecclesiastical Province Association (MEPA), made a pilgrimage to Namugongo on their annual meeting last Sunday (November 13). 

Led by Kabale Diocese, the Catholics from the rest of the five dioceses of Mbarara, Kasese, Fort Portal and Hoima, and their bishops, had mass at Namugongo martyr’s shrine.

The mass was led by Kabale Bishop Callist Rubaramira, who appealed to Christians to endure patience and persistence in good works and difficulties. 

He called upon them to draw inspiration from the martyrs that endured the pain as they were being tortured to death by Kabaka Mwanga’s officials.

About 2,000 Christians braved the morning downpour which caused traffic jam on roads going to Namugongo. As a result, many were still pouring in after mass had started. 

The mass was lively, led by a joint choir from the five dioceses, with dances to accompany the hymns. 

The chief guest was Minister of Finance Matia Kasaija, who advised church leaders to embrace government wealth projects to boost their financial muscle, other than relying on donations that are not forthcoming.

“The time has come to think hard about how you can sustain the religious institutions and projects without necessarily depending on donors. We need to embrace income-generating and government projects for survival,” Kasaija said.

Kasaija named such government packages as Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga and funds for women, youth, disabled and small-scale enterprises, among others.

“Every parish and sub-parishes must have an income-generating activity. It wouldn’t be proper if the flocks got to know that a church leader slept hungry or he doesn’t have transport money. Government is willing to help the church leaders if they are willing to cooperate. You need to come up with ideas that are empowering and economically viable,” Kasaija said.

MEPA makes an annual pilgrimage to Namugongo Uganda Martyrs Catholic Shrine every November. Last two years, the pilgrimage was postponed due to the lockdown regulations. 

This time, the organization team was receiving a new executive, led by Dr. Patrick Bitonder Birungi, the executive director of Uganda Development Corporation. 

The outgoing chairman, Dr. Peter Ngategize, said his term of office had been a pleasant experience of voluntary service.

“We have worked hard, in collaboration with the bishops, to realize our most important objective, which is to ensure the spiritual growth of our members. We organized several workshops for mind renewal and socio-economic empowerment. We mobilised resources and contributed to the sustenance and development of particular churches, schools and health facilities in our dioceses. We also contributed towards national causes. For example, we were among the organizations that donated money to the Covid-19 National Task Force during the peak of the lockdown,” he said.

Birungi pledged to work hard and take MEPA to further heights.

The minister for information, Communications, and Technology, Chris Baryomunsi, introduced the political leaders who were around and called on Christians to take advantage of their unity and associations. 

MEPA was founded by the bishops of the respective dioceses, during a consultative meeting they had with the laity, in Kampala, in June 2004. 

The bishops wanted to organise and mobilise the Christians in Kampala to support their mother dioceses and the entire ecclesiastical province in a coordinated and collaborative way, using their privileged professional positions in the city.