The Pope to Visit Uganda Again
The African bishops under their umbrella body
Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), the Uganda
Episcopal Conference (UEC) and the assembly of Catholic leaders, have invited
Pope Francis to visit Uganda again.
The visit scheduled for late July, according to official accounts and highly placed sources in the Church, will coincide with SECAM’s golden jubilee celebrations which was launched at yesterday’s mass at Rubaga Cathedral in Kampala.
The SECAM conference was launched in 1969 by an African bishops meeting in Kampala which also came out of the Second Vatican Council resolution to build structures to bring together Catholic churches on the continent. The Pope Paul VI presided over SECAM’s inauguration in 1969 in Kampala during his maiden Africa trip.
SECAM`s treasurer the Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer Buckle of Cape Coast in Ghana was quoted as saying that “It is only fair that Pope Francis is invited. The Holy Father Pope John VI was the one who inaugurated SECAM, so how can we mark 50 years and we do not invite Pope Francis even though he has already been to (Uganda) already?”
The Archbishop and 20 other bishops from SECAM’s eight regional groupings were in Kampala last week to draw the golden jubilee roadmap and also kick start celebrations which will be held in all Catholic Church dioceses across the continent until July. The theme for this July’s celebrations was “Church-Family of God in Africa, Celebrate your Jubilee! Proclaim Jesus Christ your Savior.”
The visit scheduled for late July, according to official accounts and highly placed sources in the Church, will coincide with SECAM’s golden jubilee celebrations which was launched at yesterday’s mass at Rubaga Cathedral in Kampala.
The SECAM conference was launched in 1969 by an African bishops meeting in Kampala which also came out of the Second Vatican Council resolution to build structures to bring together Catholic churches on the continent. The Pope Paul VI presided over SECAM’s inauguration in 1969 in Kampala during his maiden Africa trip.
SECAM`s treasurer the Archbishop Charles Gabriel Palmer Buckle of Cape Coast in Ghana was quoted as saying that “It is only fair that Pope Francis is invited. The Holy Father Pope John VI was the one who inaugurated SECAM, so how can we mark 50 years and we do not invite Pope Francis even though he has already been to (Uganda) already?”
The Archbishop and 20 other bishops from SECAM’s eight regional groupings were in Kampala last week to draw the golden jubilee roadmap and also kick start celebrations which will be held in all Catholic Church dioceses across the continent until July. The theme for this July’s celebrations was “Church-Family of God in Africa, Celebrate your Jubilee! Proclaim Jesus Christ your Savior.”
The Next
visit
The Archbishop will be back in Kampala from July 20 to July 29 for the final golden jubilee celebrations and at least 600 bishops will attend the event.
The Archbishop will be back in Kampala from July 20 to July 29 for the final golden jubilee celebrations and at least 600 bishops will attend the event.
Although the Vatican is yet to confirm Pope Francis’
second visit to Uganda, the Pontiff already has a scheduled trip to Africa and
it is likely a brief stop in Kampala will be added to his itinerary.
Pope Francis was in Uganda for a three-day official visit in November 2015 and was the third Pope to visit Uganda after Pope Paul VI in July 1969 and Pope John Paul II in February 1993.
Sources revealed that the Catholic bishops under UEC delivered Pope Francis’ invite last month while on a visit to the Vatican.
Pope Francis was in Uganda for a three-day official visit in November 2015 and was the third Pope to visit Uganda after Pope Paul VI in July 1969 and Pope John Paul II in February 1993.
Sources revealed that the Catholic bishops under UEC delivered Pope Francis’ invite last month while on a visit to the Vatican.
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