A treasure to jealously guard and enhance

By Rev. Fr. Dr. Herman Joseph Kalungi

The warm welcome given to Pope Francis on his recent visit to Uganda portrayed us before the world as a deeply religious and united country.

The streams of people from all corners of the country flowing into Kampala to see the Pontiff, coupled with images of enthusiastic faithfuls waving to him, some of them — in a gesture similar to that of the biblical Zacchaeus — climbing trees to catch a glimpse of the Vicar of Christ, revealed a joyful nation peopled with generous hearts.

Who did not rejoice to see our president and his wife and practically all the other important public figures, receiving the Holy Father and uniting themselves to the prayer of the Catholic faithful in the Mass at Namugongo?

How about those meetings with the President at State House and with the Kabaka at Lubaga?... and those cordial moments spent with the Anglican bishops and the faithful at the Namugongo Anglican Shrine and the new museum? All these gestures say a lot not only about the Catholic presence, but, indeed, about all Ugandans, presenting us a nation in which the joy of life can be smelt in the very air we breathe.

In fact, joy, when it fills the human heart, pours itself out towards others in gestures of love and generosity. Ugandans once again confirmed that our country is, indeed, the Pearl of Africa.

The striking contrast with the sister country to which the Pope flew on leaving Uganda confirms this affirmation. Unlike the Central African Republic, torn to shreds by seemingly insoluble conflicts purportedly based on religious differences, our country presents a real constellation of religious creeds woven harmoniously into a rich mosaic in which diversity is the very root of unity.

All these treasures of unity, truth, goodness and beauty can, however, be lost and Uganda has her own experience to tell in this regard. One hundred and twenty years ago, the failure to respect each other's religious creed, the refusal to accept and love the other one in his unique and unrepeatable reality, led to those pernicious religious wars that were a strange replication of similar fratricidal acts between the Arabs and Europeans and between the Europeans themselves, up to 350 years before!

Immensely more bitter, however, is the story that the decades that followed our greatly celebrated independence were to witness: what rivers of innocent blood have flown, staining the pearl of Africa and converting our Eden into a real hell! This is the terrible disillusion of the post-independence period that, in fact, continues to present itself even to the present day. In this case, however, the roots do not present themselves always as immediately based on religion. They seem to be based, rather, on other factors, such as tribe, language and social class, although sometimes they make use of religion as a pretext. Be it, however, the case of the religious conflicts, of the tribal ones or of any other type, the underlying causes prove to be always the love of money and the rejection of the other person.

The so-presented religious wars were in fact power struggles for important positions in the Buganda Kingdom, positions that were perceived as key to wealth and honour. It is the same, transported to the Ugandan level, in the post-independence turmoil.

Can anyone deny the fact that the persistent corruption that has dug so deeply into our society, becoming almost a second false culture, is an extremely dangerous prolongation of this turmoil, and itself a cause for innumerable other misfortunes at present and dangers for the future? The rejection of the other is enhanced by the limitedness of the resources that the contending parties seek, but its real cause is an underlying love of self to the exclusion of the others.

The real differences between people are not the reason, then, for conflict, but only the excuse. It can almost be said that such differences are sought and deliberately highlighted in order to provoke conflict. Our national experience proves this fact: before Buganda's incorporation into Uganda deadly religious conflicts arose between people of the same language and culture - Baganda - claiming as their basis their religious differences. After the incorporation into Uganda, the conflicts are based on tribal differences!

The fact is that a homicidal person always finds an excuse for rejecting his fellow man. Such a person has interest only in their own advantage and the brother happens to be another, distinct from oneself. In the final analysis, even the apparent solidarity that such people have with respect to others of their "we" group, be this the tribe, the religious grouping, the social class or whichever other, is not really based on a true interest in these colleagues as persons, but, rather, as "less different from me than the others".

It is evident that a love for some, to the exclusion of others, is never a genuine one, unless it is matrimonial in nature!

There are innumerable other threats to the harmonious and integral development of our country and of each of her individual children. Besides the endemic poverty that is a result of corruption and the malfunctioning of diverse sectors due to the naked lack of a patriotic spirit and interest in other people on the part of those who occupy the concerned positions, there are many contagious vices which, if they are left to thrive, can bring whole nations - even very great ones - to their very knees.

This happens, for example, when the youth and young adults do not want to work nor to study, or when they do not want to give themselves to each other in faithful marriage. No less dangerous for a nation is the situation that results when her citizens no longer want to have children, or do not make the effort to educate them well: such a nation is finished!

All these and many other threats, are already daily reality in many parts of the world and they are progressively eating into our own society as well! They are worse enemies of the state and of society than the feared and over-publicised terrorists!

When examined closely, however, they turn out to be simply forms of egoism, of the excessive cult of personal interests and advantages without any regard for the other persons.

It is clear, hence, that the key to authentic and integral national growth lies in a spirited fight against egocentrism in all its forms. Egocentrism, however, is in reality only a deformation of the natural and legitimate love of self without which it is impossible to love anyone else! This partly explains why egoism is so deep-rooted in the human heart and always remains at least as a subtle danger as long as one is alive.

For this reason, struggle against the weed of egoism from society cannot be directed against the individuals perceived as egocentric, otherwise even the good seed would end up being uprooted, since, in fact, everyone of us falls, in one way or another, in both categories. The solution lies, rather, in a solid and holistic education, founded on true anthropologic principles. Such formation of the human person is necessarily life-long, and is imparted and received in various forms.

Everyone of us, therefore, has their own part to play: parents, teachers, religious leaders, opinion leaders, politicians, journalists, peers, and, above all, each one in regard to their own selves. A true love for our country and for all people, an authentic patriotism that does not degenerate into the nationalistic hatred of the other nations in the name of loving one's own, will move everyone of us to conscientiously and zealously strive to fulfil their own role.

A genuine education must, however, as I have already noted, be founded on valid anthropologic principles, on an accurate concept of what the human person is. The first datum that such a notion takes into consideration is necessarily the question of the foundation of the human existence in God.

The modern and contemporary periods have been characterised by a determined struggle to expel God from society, and the results are clear for everyone to see: how many dozens of millions of war dead and victims of brutal regimes and other forms of violence that even now continue to plague innumerable parts of the world!

The proliferation of euthanasia and abortion, of pornography and of other shameful vices! That is what follows when man rejects God and presumes to be self-sufficient. The natural love for self turns into the egocentrism that seeks the destruction of the other and ends up destroying oneself as well.

It is imperative, therefore, for each one is their own capacity, to work on our personal and common formation and growth, and simultaneously cultivate and nourish our religious heritage in its harmonious diversity and unity, since "the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom". Then the joy that was manifested at the coming of Pope Francis will continuously grow both in profundity and abundance. Fidelity to this obligation is always a necessary sign of true love for our country, and especially now as we prepare for national elections.

FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY.

The writer is a priest