Why Pope Francis' visit to Uganda is a big deal

By Richard C. Ntiru

Pope Francis’ confirmation on June 12, 2015 that he will be visiting the Central African Republic and Uganda (and possibly Kenya) in November is very welcome news indeed.

In the 136-year history of the Catholic Church in Uganda, two popes have visited the country: Paul VI in 1969 and John Paul II in 1993.

Both Paul VI and John Paul II prayed at the Uganda Martyrs Shrine at Namugongo. Paul VI’s visit was limited to Kampala City and Namugongo Shrine, while John Paul II also visited Gulu and Soroti.

Pope Benedict XVI did not visit Uganda but, in addition to making reconciliation, justice and peace the principal focus of the church in Africa in 2009, his pontificate also left somewhat of a legacy. This modest legacy took the form of appointment of papal chaplains as well as papal knights and dames; charitable donations for Northern Uganda; and financial contributions to HIV AIDS projects and humanitarian assistance to victims of the Bududa landslides.

By far the greatest legacy of the three popes, for Uganda as well as for Africa, is that of Pope Paul VI, who consecrated 12 bishops from or for Africa (including four from Uganda); solemnly charged Africans with the responsibility of being missionaries unto themselves; and officially launched SECAM – the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar.

It is in the light of this historical background that Pope Francis was widely expected to visit Uganda in June 2014 to preside over the Jubilee of the canonization of the Martyrs of Uganda by Pope Paul VI in Rome in 1964, in the presence of the Most Reverend Joseph Kiwanuka, Archbishop of Rubaga and Primate of Uganda, and His Grace Archbishop Leslie Brown, Archbishop of Namirembe.

Although it proved infeasible for the visit to coincide with the occasion of the commemorative events that culminated in the liturgical celebration of June 3, 2014, the context and the spirit remain the same. The compelling reasons that I advanced in June 2013, in an informal Discussion Note with limited circulation, for a visit to Uganda by Pope Francis are as valid today as they were then. Indeed one can add a few more reasons, for good measure.

The first reason for any pope’s visit to Uganda has to do with privileged entitlement deriving from church history. Uganda is the land of the Uganda Martyrs – the Universal Church’s African martyrs; the land of the first African priests (Victor Mukasa Womeraka and Basil Lumu, ordained in 1913); the land of the first African bishop south of the Sahara (Joseph Kiwanuka, consecrated in 1939); and the first African country south of the Sahara to host a visit by a Pope (Paul VI in 1969).

The second reason is that such a visit will afford the Supreme Pontiff, and through him the Universal Church, the opportunity of being associated with a number of events marking major milestones in the life of the Church in Uganda that started taking place from the beginning of this decade and will continue well into its second half. The corollary is that these events will assume a higher profile by reason of their association – albeit in a virtual way - with the Pope’s visit.
Such past events include the Centennial of the faith in Gulu and Kabale in 2011 (the latter celebrated in 2013) and in Arua in 2012; the Centennial in 2011 (celebrated in 2013) of Katigondo National Major Seminary, the pre-eminent major seminary for Eastern Africa; and the Centennial in 2013 of the ordination of the first African priests south of the Sahara.

Similar events for 2015 include the Centennial of the establishment of the Vicariate of Uganda at Rubaga (January 2015); and the Jubilee of the erection of the Dioceses of Moroto (March 2015) and Hoima (August 2015). (In this connection, it would be altogether auspicious if the Pope could consecrate new bishops for the Dioceses of Hoima and Soroti, which have been vacant for well over a year.)

The third reason, especially in view of the fact that the visit will be a state visit rather than a purely pastoral one, is that Uganda is of considerable regional strategic importance to the Universal Church. This importance derives from the nation’s geopolitical significance as a major player in the integration process currently under way in East Africa that will bring Burundi and Rwanda fully into the regional inter-governmental organization.

Moreover, Uganda is also a key player in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region. The objectives of its Pact on Peace, Security, Stability and Development partially mirror the principal focus of the mission of the Catholic Church in Africa, namely, to be “in service to reconciliation, peace and justice”, as mandated by the 2009 Second Special Assembly for Africa of the Synod of Bishops.

In the same vein, a fourth reason is that Uganda is the only nation in eastern Africa that is a member of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation. It is from this invidious position that Uganda finds itself at the forefront in combating religiously inspired ideologies like al-Shabaab, even as she plays a critical and sensitive role in restoring Somalia from the status of a failed state to that of a functioning state.

Uganda, therefore, offers an ideal platform for the Pope to deliver his key messages to the African continent. The nation is home to the third-largest member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion, a growing Orthodox Church, and thriving Islam. This constitutes a substantial audience for the Pope’s messages on the ecumenical project and its goal of visible unity among the three Christian denominations; on religiously inspired ideologies such as those espoused by al-Qaeda or al-Sabaab or IS, the persecution of Christians such as Copts in Libya by IS and the wanton massacre of innocent civilians by al-Shabaab in Kenya; and on interreligious dialogue for the survival of humanity.

As an island of relative peace and stability (that also experienced war and civil conflict between 1971 and 1986) bounded to the north, the northwest, the west and until recently the southwest by historically insecure states and unstable societies, Uganda will provide a suitable backdrop for the Pope’s message calling for a permanent end to wars and internecine strife, and the ushering in of a durable peace throughout the continent. From this bully pulpit, the Pope is likely to point his bullhorn in the direction of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, and the two Sudan states.  

The Pope will also use the Uganda platform to speak to the continent on the imperative of addressing structural causes of poverty and income inequality; on the economic and social ordering of society for holistic human development; and on the need for proper care of the environment and responsible stewardship of all of God’s creation. (If he visits Kenya, he is almost certain to travel to the headquarters of UNEP in Nairobi to deliver his message on the environment from there.)

In bilateral meetings with government authorities, an exchange of views will take place covering a range of issues such as Church-State relations; freedom of religion; ecumenical and inter-religious relations; freedom to establish, own and operate institutions for the advancement of the Church’s mission; poverty and income inequality; areas of development cooperation between the Church and the government; the place of homosexual people in society and before the law; policies relating to the individual, the family, reproductive health, and population regulation; and the environment. The same issues will feature in an address that the Pope will almost certainly deliver to Parliament.

It will be interesting to see the extent to which the Pope’s message on economic relations and development is in consonance with the government’s economic philosophy and development strategy, and the extent to which he eschews language that might otherwise have had the potential to undermine them.

In speaking directly to the nation’s Catholic bishops, the Pope will elaborate on his vision of the Church as a “poor church for the poor” and a “field hospital on the scene of a battle-field”, in the context of Uganda and Africa. Coming as he will fresh from the Synod on the Family, the Pope will deliver the church’s teaching on marriage and the family, as well as human sexuality and sexual relations (particularly in view of new understandings and applications of these concepts), and the place of non-heterosexual people in the Church.   

The Pope will find a poor but vibrant church that is self-reliant in terms of personnel and leadership (with only two White missionary bishops) and is enjoying a boom in vocations. He will hear about its evangelizing mission and its celebrated historical role in development in the areas of education and health, as well as the training of a skilled labour force and the formation of good citizens. Also cited among its successes will be programmes that promote reconciliation, justice and sustainable peace; as well as efforts to combat the effects of fratricidal wars and the HIV-AIDS pandemic.

He will also, hopefully, learn about its current problems and challenges concerning resources to support the Church’s mission and finance its nationwide network of educational, health and social services;  education of priests and nuns, training of catechists, and evangelization and catechesis of the faithful; inculturation of the liturgy; participation of lay people in leadership roles in the church; ecumenical and inter-religious relations; the vow of priestly celibacy (with priests even being drawn into concubinage); and married priests.

Other problems and challenges that he will – or should – hear about are cultic movements (such as the one that resulted in the Kanungu inferno in 2000) that tend to confuse and exploit the ill-educated and under-evangelized faithful; the practice of polygamy, witchcraft, human sacrifice, and false ministries of healing among the population, which has a negative impact on the quality of the Christian life of the faithful; the use of money to lure some members of the church away; and the morally debilitating effects of official and public corruption.

An overarching reason is that the visit to Uganda by Pope Francis will be a sorely needed boost to a church struggling with a variety of challenges and problems. It will also be a welcome confirmation of the brethren – the bishops – who have the responsibility of finding solutions for such problems, often without much support or sympathy from the Vatican bureaucracy, as well as a vital affirmation of the mission of the Church in Uganda and in Africa.

By its very nature and scale, and especially in view of its capacity to attract global media attention, the visit represents a considerable investment the potential return on which both the Church and the State must be debating at the highest levels. For the civil authorities the stakes would normally be high; in this case, they cannot be higher, given that the visit will happen during the campaign season for a Presidential Election. Fortunately, both sides have some time to hone their strategies for achieving their objectives, as well as ‘getting it right’.     

As planning for the November visit gets under way in earnest, two other matters will be on the minds of the Church and of the Ugandan faithful: the canonization of the Martyrs of Paimol Jildo [Hermengildo] Irwa and Daudi Okello, who were beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2002, and the beatification of Father Simeon Lourdel and Brother Delmas Amans (who introduced the Catholic faith to Uganda in 1879), Father Aloysius Ngobya and Sister Amedeo Byabali (who laboured long and hard in the Lord’s vineyard in the Diocese of Masaka), and Bishop Vincent McCauley, first bishop of the Diocese of Fort Portal.

Since the invitation to Pope Francis was issued from the highest levels of Uganda’s civil authority – the President himself, who is therefore the chief host - it is much to be hoped and desired that it is on Ugandan soil that the Pope will first speak to Africa, and from the Pearl of Africa that he will invoke God’s blessings on the continent. The negotiators on all sides have their work cut out for them. They would do well to bear in mind that the visit will take place less than a year to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Vatican and Uganda.

The writer is a communications strategist