Clerics pray for return of abducted seminarians

Mr Thomas Omony is one of the seminarians who was abducted but returned home after spending seven months in captivity. 

Mr Omony, now a secondary school teacher, says he survived death when he attempted to escape two weeks after his abduction.
He says he tried to escape after they had crossed River Aswa while they trekked towards Kitgum District but was recaptured by the rebels.

“After one of my colleagues and I were recaptured, we were punished, including being beaten with the flat side of machetes. I only survived because of Archbishop (John Baptist) Odama’s intervention; he was constantly on phone talking to the LRA commander Joseph Kony pleading for our release,” he says.
Rev Fr Stephen Raphael Kilama, the parish priest of Christ the King Catholic Parish, Kitgum, was among the abductees but escaped two years later.

He says the rebels attacked at exactly midnight while they were in class.
“Only four UPDF soldiers were guarding the school that night but fled the moment the rebels gained access to the dormitories through one of the windows,” Fr Kilama narrates.

Although his relatives advised him to abandon priesthood and seek another profession, Fr Kilama says he returned to the seminary from where he was abducted to pursue his priesthood dream, and was ordained seven years ago.

He recently published a 125-page book titled ‘Escape by Grace’ that tells his experience during captivity. The book was launched by Archbishop Odama on May 11, 2021.

At the time of the abduction, the rebels reportedly promised to treat the seminarians in a special way due to their understanding of Christianity, which the LRA leader Kony is said to espouse strongly.

The LRA rebels roamed with the seminarians through thick jungles of northern Uganda and South Sudan for many months but some managed to escape.

To date, 30 of the abducted seminarians have escaped from rebel captivity.
However, eight years since one of the abducted seminarians last returned, the Church is optimistic that the remaining 11 seminarians are still alive and will all return home one day.

It is not clear whether all of them are alive and in one place or they are with different LRA rebel groups scattered across the region. But Church leaders believe the missing seminarians are either in the jungles of Central African Republic (CAR), which is LRA’s main hideout; DR Congo or South Sudan.

Msgr Mathew Odong, the Gulu Archdiocese Vicar General, who was the rector of Sacred Heart Seminary, Lacor, at the time of the abduction, says he hopes one day, all the abducted seminarians will return home. “We prayed a lot for their safety and return and they would keep returning one by one, although 11 are yet to return out of the total 41. We know they are still alive and we strongly believe that they will all return,” he says. 

Msgr Odong, who is still the rector of the seminary, witnessed how the rebels tied the seminarians with ropes and made them carry their luggage and other looted items.
Msgr Odong says they learnt that the boys were still alive during the peace talks that took place in several locations across the region.

“Many of the LRA delegates that came for the peace talks in several locations could not tell us where our students are but they assured us that they were alive,” he adds.

The missing seminarians are Jude Ojok, Patrick Okot Patrick (who were in S.1), Solomon Akaka Bernard Okot, Simon Peter Orwenya and Victoria Omolo (who were in S.2).
Others are John Bosco Oceng, Luke Odong, Geoffrey Okello and Patrick Rubangakene, who were in S.3, and Charles Okello Lwanga of S.4.

In one of the stores at the institution, Msgr Odong locked up safely all the properties of the abducted seminarians and each time one of them returned, they were handed back the belongings.

“I will still keep these belongings until we can confirm or are convinced that they are no longer alive; then we can hand these properties to their parents,” he says.

Msgr Odong knows that the odds are stacked against him to account for the missing seminarians; every year parents convene at the seminary for the memorial prayers held every May 11.

A fortnight ago, the church held memorial prayers for the missing seminarians at the institution, presided over by Archbishop Odama.

Archbishop Odama called for intensive prayers for the missing seminarians and campaigned for forgiveness as well as the cessation of violence and evil, vices, he said, were severely propagated by the rebels but still haunt the survivors of the war.

Background
 This month marks 18 years since the rebels attacked Sacred Heart Seminary Lacor in Akurukwee, Lamogi Sub-county, Amuru District, and abducted the 41 seminarians under the cover of darkness. Msgr Mathew Odong, the Gulu Archdiocese Vicar General, who was the rector of Sacred Heart Seminary, Lacor, at the time of the abduction, says he hopes one day, all the abducted seminarians will return home. 

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