Concerned catholic asks Archbishop Ssemwogerere to stop priests from celebrating Mpuuga’s “thanksgiving” mass
Ojok noted that there have also been questions as to why the Catholic Church which has always been vocal on matters of morality has this time been conspicuously silent on this one.
Mr.Francis Ojok, a teacher and concerned Catholic from Gulu Archdiocese has written to the Kampala Archdiocese Archbishop His Grace Paul Ssemwogerere requesting him to stop Catholic priests from celebrating Commissioner of Parliament Mathias Mpuuga’s “Thanksgiving Mass”.
The mass is scheduled for June 21, 2024.
In his letter dated June 10, 2024, Ojok stated that In January this year, His Holiness Pope Francis implored Catholics all over the world to fight the scourge of corruption, abuse of power, and illegality.
“You too, Your Grace, have always spoken out against corruption and injustice. I am writing to express deepest concern regarding the widespread corruption in Uganda, given that the Catholic Church is one of the few remaining moral voices in our country,” reads the letter in part.
According to Ojok, the voice of the Catholic Church must become louder in condemning this vice which has crippled our nation in many sectors.
“But I wish to restrict this letter to the recent scandal that has caught the attention of the nation. We recently learnt that four Commissioners of Parliament, in violation of the law and morality sat in a meeting and distributed amongst themselves public funds to the tune of Uganda shillings one billion and seven hundred million (UGX 1.7Bn), which was an act of corruption and abuse of office. This has caused public outrage and has also attracted a censure motion in Parliament that has so far been signed by over 145 MPs. Your Grace, one of the persons at the center of this scandal is the former Leader of Opposition, Hon. Mathias Mpuuga who allocated himself half a billion shillings (UGX 500M) in that bonanza,” he noted.
He explained that this money could have been used to refurbish Masaka Regional Referral Hospital or any other health facility for that matter.
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“To my surprise, recently while addressing the media regarding the forthcoming ‘thanksgiving mass’ for Hon. Mpuuga (an event aimed at sanitizing the corruption scandal), the chairperson of the organizing committee, ‘Pastor’ Abed Bwanika informed the nation that the Catholic Church would preside over that mass. As a Catholic I am concerned that such an act would drag the church into the centre of this scandal and compromise its position as a moral voice in our society,” he stated.
Ojok noted that there have also been questions as to why the Catholic Church which has always been vocal on matters of morality has this time been conspicuously silent on this one.
“Is it because the person at the centre of this scandal is a Muganda just like the Archbishop? If this scandal involved someone from Northern Uganda, would the Church be this silent? Does the Catholic Church in Uganda only find corruption wrong when the persons involved are from other tribes? While the church must shepherd all the flock it also must stand up for morality and uprightness and for the church to provide leadership on these fronts, it must not be used as a hiding place for the corrupt,” he questioned.
He further appealed to the Archbishop to exercise his apostolic authority to prevail on all Catholic Priests not to participate in this scandal and if they are to do so, it should be preceded by a commitment from Mr. Mpuuga to repent and seek forgiveness before God and Ugandans whose money he stole.
“The Catholic church risks losing its credibility as a voice of morality if it is seen to condone corruption and give cover to persons seeking to sanitise themselves after stealing from the poor.”
