Wamala against cohabiting

By Josephine Maseruka EMMANUEL Cardinal Wamala has decried the rate at which Catholics are cohabiting instead of receiving the holy sacrament of matrimony. Addressing a capacity congregation on Sunday at the Rubaga Cathedral, Wamala said if the problem was not immediately tackled, illegal marriages would outshine legal ones to the detriment of Catholicism. The Cardinal was officiating at this year’s Kampala Archdiocese celebrations to mark the day of the holy family, attended by hundreds of couples from 41 parishes. Wamala appealed to the couples to encourage the youth and the many families that are cohabiting to receive the holy sacrament of matrimony as a sign of faith. He appealed to families to engage in income-generating programmes and utilise government development transfers to districts and sub-counties. “We get concerned when our people are living in abject poverty. It affects both the Church and Government,” Wamala said. The Cardinal hosted a luncheon for over 100 couples at his residence after the holy mass. The colourful celebrations which started with a march from the cardinal’s residence to the Cathedral was also attended by the Minister in the Office of the President, Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, several Members of Parliament and local government officials. The head of the laity in Kampala Archdiocese, Mr. Roch Masembe, said the number of Catholics cohabiting was more than the legally married.