Bishop quits church, joins another

His Eminence Vladyka Nektarios Lubega, previously known as Archbishop Leonard Lubega, surprised many people when he introduced the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, in 2009.

He subsequently became the Church's first Archbishop and started wooing former Catholic seminarians and clerics into its ranks.

Among his harvests were Fr William Obonyo, Fr Anthony Musaala, Fr. Paul Matovu Seguya, Fr. Joseph Balya and Fr. John Angelo Musaazi.

Lubega has now quit and disbanded the Ugandan hierarchy of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church. He has subsequently joined and introduced the Genuine Orthodox Church, of which he is the pioneer, Ugandan Bishop. Lubega, who is also now a monk, has his headquarters at the newly established St Nektarios Monastery, Nansana, in Wakiso district.

He launched the monastery and also baptised the faith's pioneer Christians on Monday (November 9), the Orthodox feast day of St Nektarios.

Lubega explained why he found it preferable to the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church.

"Our faith, the Genuine Orthodox Church in Uganda and our hierarchy are part of the Genuine Orthodox Church of America, which is a continuation of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Russian Church received its hierarchy over a thousand years ago when the Patriarch of Constantinople sent missionaries to convert the people of the Great Russian land in 988AD.

Constantinople, on the other hand, received its apostolic succession from the great apostle Andrew, the first-called disciple of Christ and brother of Saint Peter. This happened in the year 38AD when the Apostle Andrew ordained a bishop for Byzantium, the future Constantinople.

"So we see the unbroken apostolic succession, the uninterrupted transmission of spiritual authority from the apostles through successive bishops. It flows from Christ to the apostle Andrew, to the church of Constantinople, to the church of Russia and to the Church in America. The hierarchs were ordained by those bishops of the Russian Church who did not submit to the communist authority, and from them to us in Uganda through the episcopacy of me, Bishop Nektarios, who was ordained by the bishops in America."

How different

Lubega says the Genuine Orthodox Church is different fundamentally from the Uganda Orthodox Church, headquartered at Namungona. The Genuine Orthodox Church is under the worldwide leadership of His Eminence Vladyka Archbishop Gregory, whose headquarters are at Holy Dormition of Mary Monastery, Buena Vista, Colorado USA.

 "We call ourselves Genuine Orthodox because, by the mercy and good pleasure of God, our hierarchs in America have not succumbed to any of the heresies of World Orthodoxy, namely: ecumenism, masonry, phyletism and modernism. We have not changed the Holy Traditions of the Church, such as: the Julian calendar, the iconography, the chanting, the sacred services, the fasting, etc," he said.

He explains that Christ only made one Church.

"He did not make 50,000 Christian denominations to compete for the souls of men with His One Holy Church. I submit to you all that it is God's will that all of us come to the knowledge of the truth. And, once we have recognized the truth, to accept it and submit to everything that is required of us to be part of Christ's Church, the Orthodox Church. We should never ever think that we have the right to gamble with our salvation by being a part of a Christian denomination that is not the One True Church. God requires truth from us, and if we are baptized and are united to His Body, the Orthodox Church, our hope of salvation is so great."

Why he moved

Lubega said he did comprehensive research and discovered that the previous faiths he had embraced lacked certain fundamentals of the one true Church. He hailed the Genuine Orthodox Church as having been free from what he called schism, which he said was one of the questionable features of many of the Christian denominations.

"When I was in the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, I suffered a lot because I was seen as a schismatic. This was because of the Church's lack of apostolic foundation and succession. Bishop Carlos Duarte Costa, who founded the Church in 1945, had personal issues and convictions. Because of the apostolic succession devoid of the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, everybody was treating me as a rebel. So, at one time I also got tired of living in psychological discomfort."

On what then happened to the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church he used to lead in Uganda, Lubega said it ceased to be the moment he switched to the Genuine Orthodox Church in 2019.

"I am the one who introduced the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church and also registered it at the NGO Bureau. So, I deregistered it and registered the Genuine Orthodox Church, with myself as its leader. I have moved on with most of my previous followers. I am sure even the few, who have not yet come on board, will eventually come because I am in talks with them."

Lubega says his membership to the Genuine Orthodox Church invalidates all his previous religious affiliations.

"We are convinced that the Genuine Orthodox Church holds the right teaching. That is why when I joined the faith, I was baptized a new. I was also ordained a new to the priesthood and to the episcopate. Likewise, our new members have to be baptized a new, even if they have been practicing Christianity in other denominations."

Lubega said his newly established monastery at Nansana is for men. He plans to construct more monasteries, including those for nuns, in the future.

Namungona speaks out

The parish priest of St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral, the Very Rev Fr Nicholas Bayego said he was not so sure of the  the Genuine Orthodox Church.

"I have not done research on it but if it offers the right teaching, and if it is under a recognized patriarchate, we wouldn't have any issues with it. Orthodox means right teaching. So, let's wait and see what they are going to do," Bayego says.

Who is Bishop Nektarios Lubega

Lubega was born at Buwala-Busujju, Banda, Mityana district, in 1973. He is the son of Bernard Seguya and Veronica Nakate.

He attended Banda PS, Buzzibazzi PS and Uganda Martyrs SS Bukalagi (in Mpigi district), where he did his O-Level (1989-92).  He subsequently joined the formation house of the Catholic Brothers of St Charles Lwanga (Bannakaroli) at Kiteredde, where he trained as a Catholic Brother.

After taking his first religious vows, in 1996, Lubega's superiors sent him to St. Mbaaga's Major Seminary Ggaba, to study Theology (1997-2000).

Upon completion of his theological studies, Lubega crossed to the Uganda Orthodox Church, where he was ordained a Deacon on November 18, 2002, and a priest on June 1, 2003.  

He then taught philosophy and theology at St Paul's Orthodox Seminary, Namungoona. Meanwhile he did a Master's Degree in Education Management at Uganda Christian University Mukono and later, a Doctoral Degree in Biblical Counseling at Therapon University, Texas, USA (2006-2008). He also did a Master's Degree in Clinical Counselling Psychology at UCU (2010-2012).

While at Namungoona, Lubega was also the Chairperson of the Church's Ecclesiastical Court.

Lubega nonetheless left the Orthodox Church and joined the Brazilian Catholic Apostolic Church, in 2009, which he has also left last year to join the Genuine Orthodox Church of America.

Prior to his elevation to the episcopate of the Genuine Orthodox Church, Lubega was teaching Clinical Counseling psychology at St Lawrence University. He was also acting as the head of the university's branch of Tororo.