What silence, closed Cathedral doors mean for Busoga bishop-elect Lubaale
A cross-section of Christians, especially those from the cathedral, expressed displeasure with the decision by the COU.
The journalists who turned up at the cathedral to capture moments of the jubilating Anglicans. ( Photos by Jackie Nambogga)
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Scores of local journalists in Busoga ascended to Christ’s Cathedral Bugembe, the main seat of the diocese located in Jinja city northern division to capture moments of welcoming news of their bishop elect, only to find the premises closed.
More than 10 journalists who arrived in two vehicles were welcomed by the usual silence as the cathedral’s three main doors remained locked.
Usually, Christians turn up in huge numbers to hold thanksgiving prayers as a sign of welcoming news of a bishop elect.
However, it was only the entrance to the Vestry which was open with only one staff who looked soaked in thoughts.
She would quickly brief New Vision Online on how the Police had been deployed at the premises, which seemed to be at peace.
“I was shocked to see Police deployed at the Church where we are a handful of staff, I don’t know what they were up to, but they later left”, she said.
Jinja Resident City Commissioner Richard Gulume said he deployed after the negative reactions from Christians regarding the election of the Rev. Can. Prof. Grace Lubaale as Busoga bishop by the Church of Uganda (COU) House of Bishops on Tuesday, October 7, 2025.
A cross-section of Christians, especially those from the cathedral, expressed displeasure with the decision by the COU.
“This shows that there is resistance, by now, the cathedral would be full to capacity in jubilation, but they are not happy,” one of the women remarked.
Inside the cathedral was a female usher who was found taking a nap.
“This is a big statement of the cathedral remaining closed when a new bishop has been named,” she said.
Rumour dismissed
On August 3, 2025, the Church of Uganda refuted claims of electing a new bishop of Busoga diocese.
This was after news circulated on a local radio station in Jinja town and social media, especially on WhatsApp, that the House of Bishops had named the Cathedral’s Vicar, the Rev. Can. Mathias Katiko, as bishop.
However, a press release by the COU provincial secretary, the Rev. Can. William Ogeng, described the information as false, sending the jubilating Christians who had converged at the Cathedral into cold.
Jinja Resident City Commissioner Richard Gulume addressing the press.
The loud vibe went down as the jubilating crowd disappeared in a blink of an eye in disbelief.
The COU would call for fresh nominations after rejecting the three candidates whom the Busoga diocesan synod had submitted on different grounds.
However, the synod maintained the names of two candidates, Katiko and Lubaale, who were again nominated for the slot.
Upon learning that the COU had settled for Lubaale, Christians at the Cathedral chose not to show up as a gesture of not welcoming the good news of his election, but would use the known church platform to express their anger.
This prompted the Cathedral’s Dean, the Very Rev. Can. Dr. Joy Mukisa Isabirye, to call for calm with comforting scriptures.
“Dear Cathedral members, sorry for the disappointment of not choosing one of our cathedral family as the bishop elect. Many have been hurt and grieving,” she said.
Isabirye said it was normal for them to express their emotions, but with assurance of how God still had good plans for their vicar and the cathedral as per Jeremiah 29:11.
“May he comfort and heal the broken-hearted,” she said in a statement on the cathedral’s WhatsApp group before it was closed at about 3:44PM.
The forum, she said, was Christian-based with values of love, tolerance, forgiveness, patience, peace, gentleness and self-control in accordance with Galatians 6:22.
“We shall not encourage hate speech and all the negativity that goes with it, praying that the Almighty God sees us during this trying time, blessings,” said the Dean as she concluded.
Security speaks out
Meanwhile, Gulume congratulated the new bishop elect set to replace the Rt. Rev. Dr. Paul Samson Naimanhye as Busoga’s fourth bishop.
Naimanhye succeeded bishop emeritus, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Michael Kyomya, who took over from the late Cyprian Bamwoze.
However, Gulume, a staunch cathedral member, reminded Anglicans how it was a norm for the COU to appoint bishops for them since they were only followers
“This has been the practice since I came to know how the process works, I started following this during Kyomya’s election when I was mature enough. For us Christians, we have never participated in this exercise,” he told a press conference.
Whereas some were rejecting Lubaale’s election on grounds that they didn’t know him, Gulume reminded them how their then diocesan secretary, the Rev. Can. George Egesa, was elected Bukedi bishop.
He also cited the Rt. Rev. Patrick Wakula, who is a priest at St James Church in Jinja archdeaconry, was named Central Busoga bishop.
Further, he mentioned the Busoga East bishop Hannington Suubi, who was the chaplain of St. Andrews Church in Jinja city.
Therefore, Gulume said this was not new for the House of Bishops to name a bishop outside their jurisdiction, saying their role as followers was to welcome Lubaale and accord him support to carry out his pastoral work for the church to grow.
He commended Naimanhye for his visibility in the community and challenged Lubaale to borrow a leaf.
“Naimanhye is one of the bishops who has been felt on the ground like a politician, he has been everywhere, and this is a very big challenge for Lubaale to follow suit as his counterpart. It is my humble appeal to all Christians to welcome our new bishop,” he said.
Like the recently elected archbishop of Canterbury, Sarah Mullally, Lubaale has his work cut out: Keep the cathedral doors open literally and symbolically for the Anglican Christians and reawaken the fire that has gone cold in the hearts of those who are yet to welcome him and are in denial of his election.
Mullally was on Friday named the new Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to lead the Church of England, which can trace its origins to the Roman Empire and the global Anglican community.
Her nomination by a committee tasked with finding a successor to Justin Welby, who stepped down earlier this year over an abuse scandal, has been approved by King Charles III, the UK government said.
The Church of England is the mother church of global Anglicanism. Mullally, 63, becomes the church's 106th Archbishop of Canterbury, the first having been appointed in the late sixth century.
Her appointment was acrimonious if we are to go by the reactions from sections of the Anglican community worldwide, including the Church of Uganda and Gafcon is a global family of Anglicans standing together to retain and restore the Bible to the heart of Anglican Churches.