AFRICA/UGANDA - “A Church in dialogue with everyone, without compromising her own doctrine,” Bishop of Masaka tells Fides

Rome (Agenzia Fides) – "My first and foremost concern is to offer the Church priests and religious who are motivated and well formed to serve the faithful," Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa of Masaka told Agenzia Fides. Bishop Kaggwa is responsible for priestly formation in Uganda and is in Rome attending the course on "The Bishop: The First Representative of Christ in Priestly Formation," for English-speaking Bishops responsible for forming the clergy. The course has been organized by the International Center for Missionary Animation (CIAM).
Bishop Kaggwa deals in particular with overseeing seminaries in Uganda. "In this country, in addition to the minor seminaries, there are 5 major seminaries, of which 4 are national, i.e. belonging to the Bishops' Conference, and one is interdiocesan," said the Bishop of Masaka. "We are pleased about the many vocations. I mention only one fact: each of the 4 seminaries of the Bishops' Conference has 150 seminarians, for a total of over 600 students in these 4 institutions alone.”
Bishop Kaggwa, however, does not ignore some of the difficulties found in priestly formation. "We feel the responsibility to discern that the new priests are people truly dedicated to serving the Church and its faithful. We also have financial difficulties, supporting this process of formation costs a lot and ours is a poor country. We are therefore grateful to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which, through the Pontifical Missionary Society of St. Peter the Apostle, helps us in the training of clergy and religious. We also seek to raise awareness among local faithful to offer a contribution to the formation of their priests, although this alone is not enough."
Uganda is a country where people of different Christian denominations and other religions live together. We asked Bishop Kaggwa about the status of ecumenical and interfaith relations in his country. "In Uganda we have an organization that brings together the Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox Churches. We meet once a year to discuss matters of common interest: the political situation, health care, and the human development of our people. We have not yet succeeded in solving some problems of doctrinal character, like that of mixed marriages. As for interreligious dialogue, we have discussion forums on topics relating to justice, health care, the spread of AIDS, the distribution of medicines. Overall, the religious coexistence is positive.”
The Bishop continues: "The Catholic Church has a future of coexistence, dialogue, and common work. This is also true in terms of education: our schools are open to everyone, as there are students of other faiths who attend Catholic schools. Schools are allowed to teach their own religion."
"We must improve our living together by seeking a deeper dialogue on issues that separate us, but taking into account the orientation of the Catholic Church. We must remember the admonition of Paul VI to the effect that the ecumenical dialogue there should be no compromise on doctrinal issues," concluded Bishop Kaggwa. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 17/2/2010)