In death as in life, Scalabrini towers

Fr Giovanni Scalabrini, popularly referred to as Fr John, left the luxuries of home in Italy and inserted himself in a rural part of Acholi on a pastoral journey that transformed him into a father of multitudes without his own biological children.

Where the people lacked in education, he built schools; when they needed hands-on skills to better their lives, he set up vocational institutions; to induct children early in formal education, Fr Scalabrini founded nursery schools besides securing scholarships for bright students from needy families; and, to guarantee longer, healthier lives, he put in place a hospital.

As such, many successful professionals owe their progress to Fr Scalabrini, who will be buried at Bbina Parish Church in Kampala today. He succumbed to cancer at St Francis Hospital Nsambya on Tuesday, aged 83.

“Mourning my spiritual father, first employer and lover of all young people but for us from northern Uganda, he was special,” Jan Amito posted on Facebook.
It is a tribute that reverberates across the country and generations.

Mr Tonny Opiyo, 65, characterises himself as “the first born” among Fr Scalabrini’s children. In 1964 aged 13 and while working, the priest took him under his wings as an Altar Server in rural Awach, north-eastern Gulu.

“We were living near the Catholic mission and when he came, he was eager to speak Acholi and eventually he learnt and we started speaking,” Mr Opiyo reminisces, adding: “ He (Fr Scalabrini) tried hard to ensure my sight was restored and even brought specialists from Italy to help me in vain.”

In 1983, Mr Opiyo who had become the Democratic Party youth leader was beaten by government soldiers, losing his sight. Years earlier in 1971 as a student, he had lost one eye due to an ailment. The assault in 1983 blinded him completely.

Fr Scalabrini rallied to his defence, criticising the excesses of the government soldiers, the way he did during the LRA war. He paid the price of standing for the truth.

Both the Idi Amin and later President Museveni deported him. “He was accused of supporting (LRA) rebels, prompting his deportation. I pleaded that he should not be deported, but no one listened to me,” said Mr Omara Atubo, who at the time was the State minister for Defence.

Father Scalabrini, he said, was deported for condemning the manner in which human rights were being violated by some state security agencies and rebels at the time. At that time, religious, cultural and political leaders spoke out strongly against the brutalisation of unarmed civilians during the then under-reported conflict to the embarrassment of government.

Because he was a galvanising person in a period of adversity, the government singled him out as a rebel collaborator and bundled him out. In body, Fr Scalabrini was in Italy, but his soul hovered in Uganda and its people he had become fond of. Unable to be at peace with thoughts that people he loved, and who loved him, were being harassed, the priest returned to Uganda although the state reportedly banned him from setting base in northern Uganda.

“All the investments he put up in Luzira in Kampala, including schools and a hospital were meant for Gulu Archdiocese but the government dictated otherwise,” recounts Gulu Municipality MP Lyandro Komakech, a friend.

Among the physical emblems of Fr Scalabrin’s achievements are the Bishop Cipriano Secondary School and a nearby hospital in Luzira, a city suburb, Negri farm in Gulu Archdiocese and the signing in 1983 of the a peace deal in Gulu.

“He touched the lives of multitudes from all walks of life. His selfless and dedicated service to mankind, especially the down-trodden, disadvantaged and the poverty-stricken shall be etched in the history of this nation,” Emmaus Foundation said in a statement signed by Patrick Onen Ezaga.

On the last leg of his journey on earth, Fr Scalabrini’s body was moved to the school he established before a main Mass at Bbina Parish church where he is to be interred today. The curtains may have drawn on his illustrious life, but not his compassionate deeds. In serving people, he never viewed any one along tribal, ethnic, or religious lines. He supported both Christians and Muslims because to him they represented the human race and the face of the world.

“He showed extreme concern for the poor and agreed to work in the remote areas of Awach which had several problems and many poor people,” Mr Ben Otto, a former Education ministry permanent secretary and chairman of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, said.

MP Komakech says Fr Scalabrini used Awach, his first parish in Gulu District, as a springboard to spread the Gospel.

“He visited our home every Sunday and his favourite dish was malakwang,” Mr Komakech said.

In many ways, his legacy rested on his faith, and he used this to fight for the poor and lived by the Jesus’s teachings on beatitudes in the Book of Mathew, Chapter 5.

Fr Scalabrini placed education at the core of his work and this made him popular among teachers and the marginalised or suffering communities.

“A towering figure in the church and loving father to many of us, Fr Scalabrini’s death is a promotion to glory. We thank God for his life and pray that his soul rests in eternal peace,” the president of the Democratic Party, Mr Norbert Mao, posted on his Facebook page.

Red Pepper director Arinaitwe Rugyendo described Fr Scalabrini as the “greatest philanthropists I have ever met”. Most people remember him as the big-hearted and developmental priest. However, to thousands he adopted as foster children, his loss is personal. They mourn him as a father and father-in-law.

Uganda’s top musician Joseph Mayanja, better known by his stage name Jose Chameleon, is married to Daniella Atim, an adopted daughter of Fr Scalabrini.

Shortly after his passing on, Mr Mayanja posted on social media that: “Rest in peace, father and friend. May the almighty God have mercy on you as he strengthens us all. We shall always remember and pray for you. Thank you so much for love and care you shared with us. You gave all your life to us.”

In death as in life, Fr Scalabrini towers.