Mbarara Archbishop calls for unity to fight poverty
Archbishop Lambert Bainomugisha addresses the media in Mbarara recently. PHOTO | FELIX AINEBYOONA
What you need to know:
- Archbishop Bainomigisha, who was leading Mass to mark the end of the Association of Mbarara Development Association (AMDA) activities at Butare Catholic Church in Buhweju District on Sunday, said the time had come for Ugandans to stop relying on donors.
Archbishop Lambert Bainomugisha of Mbarara has asked the government and the private sector to work together to fight poverty.
Archbishop Bainomigisha, who was leading Mass to mark the end of the Association of Mbarara Development Association (AMDA) activities at Butare Catholic Church in Buhweju District on Sunday, said the time had come for Ugandans to stop relying on donors.
“Some of the human transformation interventions in education, health, and economic empowerment were done by missionaries but they are not here now, we are the missionaries, therefore, we need to mobilise resources to improve our families and communities,” he said.
“We are not saying the government and other players are not concerned, but we need to redouble our efforts,’’ Archbishop Bainomugisha added.
He lauded AMDA for occasionally holding community transformative interventions in health, education, and environment in the archdiocese.
“This is a perfect representation of the Catholic Church. However, your support should not only be to the Catholic Church and other communities in Mbarara but elsewhere, including Kampala and surrounding areas,” he said.
The chaplain of AMDA, the Rev Fr Darius Magunda, said Jesus’ message of love for mankind drives them to support communities.
“Jesus came that we should have life and have it in abundance, so as we share the gospel of joy and love, we want to do the same to the rest of the communities through pulling resources to carry out transformative interventions,” he said.
Fr Magunda urged communities who are better off to reciprocate the love.
“I beseech you to express the same love and give hope to some of the disadvantaged people in your communities, it’s through this support that we can get transformed and express God’s love for mankind,” he said.
On environment
The chaplain of AMDA, the Rev Fr Darius Magunda, asked communities to embrace God’s nature by protecting the environment.
“God created this world as a better world for human beings but we have degraded the environment. We have to protect it for a better future and in respect to God’s creation,” he said.
