Catholic Church intensifies search for Peace in Uganda

By Valerian Kkonde

PEARL NEWS SERVICE



L-R: Alex Kasekende, Fr. Cyprian Masembe and Miwenda Bagenda in their office plotting how to achieve peace in the volatile Uganda. Photo by Valerian Kkonde/PNS



There can be no opportune moment for one to affirm that indeed peace is relevant than in the present Uganda where one gets the impression that everything is bound to go amiss, with no solution to the many deliberate problems taunting the country.

This is the result of the leaders or rulers, failing to listen to those they lead or rule, Ugandans failing to play a meaningful role in the management of their country, institutions absconding from their duties and rule of law only existing in word but never respected and practiced. As a result many have lost hope to the extent of concluding that Uganda is cursed and will never witness peace, in the true sense of the word.

The Catholic Church, through the Justice and Peace Commission, is saying that it is possible to have peace and is upping its efforts to ensure that Ugandans understand what peace is and means. In so doing, they will work for peace and maintain it.

“It is lack of commitment. Attitude change is what is lacking and people not being committed to justice and peace,” says Fr. Cyprian Masembe when asked why peace continues to elude this once Pearl of Africa.

Fr. Masembe, the Director of Justice and Peace in Kampala Archdiocese, added that the search for peace has been on for years and will continue to be a priority to the Catholic Church. He revealed that its prominence dates back to the Vatican II Council from 1962 to 1965. The theme of the Council was: The Church in the Modern World.

In 1967, Fr. Masembe told PNS from his office at Cardinal Nsubuga Leadership Centre, Pope Paul VI decided to start the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Church. Worldwide, the Church dedicated every first of January to the praying for Peace.

“This is proof for the importance of prayer. Prayer is an outstanding instrument through which the Church achieves whatever it wants.”

Commenting on the nine days of prayer starting from September 3 to 11 set aside by the Archdiocese, the Director said that this was in response to Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga’s declaration in November last year.

“During the Archdiocesan day last year, the Archbishop declared a year of prayer starting from November 1, 2010 to October 31, 2011.  That is how we came up with those nine days. We also intended to prepare for the September 21 when the whole world marks the Peace Day.

“Praying for peace has been on for the last six years in Kampala Archdiocese,” observed Fr. Masembe who has been heading the Peace and Justice Commission of Kampala Archdiocese since 2006. He had however started working with the Commission, on a part time basis, as early as 1990.

As the search for peace as well as the culture of peace intensifies in the country, Fr. Masembe has taken his efforts to another level. On Thursdays he puts to use Radio Maria airwaves to reach out to the populace with the message of peace.

“The greatest challenge we have encountered is the lack of funds to go down to the grassroots to get closer to the people. The other is the poor culture of reading. Most of the issues we are trying to address have been written about but people do not bother to read.

Radio Maria helps us to speak to them and we are happy that they are listening.”

Further highlighting and strengthening the need and importance of Justice and Peace, the Catholic Church put in place these Commissions right up to the Christian Communities which are at the bottom of the Church’s structure.

Fr. Masembe went on to reveal that Justice and Peace Commissions have been put in place in schools and higher institutions of learning.

The Commission also conducts public sensitizations on the importance of Justice and Peace. People are taught about the importance of justice and peace in society as well as their role in bringing about peace and maintaining it.

With Uganda’s politics turning out to be the most rewarding investment, election time is a matter of life and death; contestants want to win by hook or crook. The organizers too join the fray by taking sides with those promising more money and other rewards.

During the just concluded election period, which started with presidential elections in February, the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission left no stone unturned in ensuring that the candidates adhere to the principles of justice and peace.

“I made it a point to talk to the different contenders for the Mayorship and Parliament, irrespective of their religious affiliations. I met Ssematimba (Pentecostal) and Lukwago (Muslim). These were vying for the Mayor’s post. I also met Kyanjo, Mabikke and the other candidates.

I also got agents to alert us about any incident of bleaching peace. On the Election Day there was chaos at Kabalagala as some people tried to propose that they vote according to their political parties. The Muslim woman who was my contact in the area telephoned me and I rushed there. I talked to the parties and voting went ahead peacefully.”

Miwanda Bagenda, an official with the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission, told PNS that the misconception that when there is no war then there is peace, is distorting the essence of peace.

“There cannot be pace when you throw rubbish in your neighbour’s compound or release waste water from your house into the road. Whenever you do to others what you do not want them to do to you, you are working against peace.”

Alex Kasekende, another official of the Archdiocesan Justice and Peace Commission, observed that the Catholic Church’s commitment to Justice and Peace is actually a command from God. But because He is invisible, He is obeyed through the relationship with the neighbour who is in His image.

“What God wants of you is to act justly, love tenderly and live honestly with your God.”

The nine-day peace prayer was organized on the theme: Pray and work for Reconciliation, Justice and Peace as a key to development. The sub themes included:  the environment and quality leadership, pro people policies, a culture of peace and the Church as the moral eye of the state.

Further highlighting the Church’s unwavering commitment to peace and the desire to make it a culture, the Director said that in 2008, Rome issued a book indicating all it wanted. The book: Compendium of the Social teaching of the Catholic Church, clearly states the Church’s position on the social, Political, Economic, Cultural and Environmental aspects.

Visiting the African continent in 2009, Pope Benedict XVI told the Catholic Church to take the lead in trying to bring about peace.

It was in the same vein, Fr. Masembe goes on, that Archbishop Lwanga organized a three-day conference in 2009 for Cultural and Political leaders at all levels. The intention was to rally their support for peace especially as election time was at the corner, and there were loud calls for electoral reforms as well as pro people policies.

“Because these efforts are backed up by the Church, there will be peace on the African continent. And if every Catholic reconciled with the other, as the starting point, there will be a big difference,” Fr. Masembe observed with determination.

Since the discovery of oil in the Western part Uganda, people have witnessed a lot of mistreatment at the hands of those who would otherwise protect them. The Catholic Church released a book: The People’s voice for Social Justice where it calls upon government to respect human dignity and not only listen to the people but consider their interests and needs for the sake of peace and all-inclusive development.

Other communications geared toward bringing about justice and peace include A Call for Sustainable Constitutionalism and Rule of Law in Uganda, The Bishops’ Letter on Elections (June 2010) and A Communiqué of Catholic Bishops of Uganda (2011)among others.

There is no doubt that every one of us needs justice and peace. But for justice and peace to become a culture in Uganda, every individual has a duty to appreciate the importance of justice and peace and to extend the same to the neighbour.