SECAM prelates praise Good Samaritan sisters

RELIGION

KAMPALA - Catholic Prelates (and other delegates) attending the on-going plenary assembly of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) have visited Mapeera Bakateyamba's Home, Nalukolongo, a charity home for disabled, sickly and elderly persons belonging to the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kampala.

The late evening visit was part of the three-station tour of selected places of religious and national significance that was organized for them by the Uganda Episcopal Conference, their host.

The SECAM Bishops were welcomed by the Chancellor of Kampala Archdiocese, Fr Pius Male, who stood in for Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga. The Prelates were received jubilantly by Christians, nuns, and inmates of the home.

They were then led to the chapel, where they had a brief prayer, before being led through a tour of the home by Sr Lawrence Nakiwu, the administrator.

During their stay at the home, the Prelates were shown the mausoleum of Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga, Uganda's pioneer Cardinal and founder of Mapeera Bakateyamba's Home, Nalukolongo, and also, the Congregation of the Good Samaritan Sisters, who look after the inmates.

SECAM Bishops pose for a picture next to the Portrait of Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga, Uganda's first Cardinal, during their visit to Mapeera Bakateyamba's Home

 
They were also taken to the various wards, where the inmates stay. They also visited the clinic and physiotherapy center at the home.

Delivering her address after the tour, the Superior General of the Good Samaritan Sisters, the Very Rev Sr Evangelist Mugisha expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the SECAM Bishops of choosing to visit Mapeera Bakateyamba's Home, in preference to several interesting sites in the city.

Mugisha later briefed the Prelates about the history and objectives of the home, after which she also highlighted its challenges, which include among others the ever-increasing number of disabled people that are brought to the center, lack of funds and limited space.

On a positive note, Mugisha told the Prelates that the congregation had a strategic plan to take its nuns to vocational and tertiary educational institutions, to get professional qualifications that will enable them to serve God's people in Uganda and elsewhere in the world, very effectively.

SECAM delegates touring Mapeera Bakateyamba's Home Nalukolongo

 
Speaking on behalf of the visiting Prelates, Bishop Victor Hlolo Phalana of the South African diocese of Klerksdorp praised the Good Samaritan Sisters for putting the Christian message of love, charity and human solidarity in practice. He promised the nuns daily prayers.

Phalana surprised the congregation when he asked the Good Samaritan Sisters to consider sending some of their members to other African countries, such as South Africa, where he said, there were very few nuns.

Among the Bishops that visited the home was the President of SECAM, the Most Rev Gabriel Mbilingi, the Archbishop of Lubango diocese, in Angola.

The Choir of the Good Samaritan Sisters singing for the visiting SECAM Prelates