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Priests living challenging lives after retirement –Archbishop Kaziimba
Church of Uganda Archibishop Dr Stephen Kazimba (R) interacts with a section of Christians outside St Mark Cathedral Luweero Diocese shortly after Rev Dr Paul Grace Kakooza celebrated his attainment of a PhD. PHOTO/ DAN WANDERA
What you need to know:
- In his PhD Thesis titled: ‘Retirement policy, implementation and welfare; a case of Church of Uganda retired Clergy in Buganda Dioceses, Rev. Kakooza analyses the effect of implementation of Church of Uganda retirement policy on welfare of retired clergy with the intention of recommending a model that can help cater for the needs of the clergy after retirement.
The Archbishop of the Church of Uganda Rt. Rev Stephen Samuel Kaziimba has said many priests face personal challenges after retirement.
“We are all potential candidates for retirement. I believe that a study on retirement policy implementation and welfare for members of the clergy can help us understand the different challenges. Some of our retired members of the clergy face serious challenges,” Archbishop Kaziimba said on Saturday.
Because of this, the archbishop said many priests are reluctant to support their own children to join priesthood simply because of the challenges that come with the office of priesthood.
“Many live a challenging life after retirement. One would not wish his own children to go through such a challenging life. We are fortunate that the welfare of many serving clergy is improving. It is also important to have our clergy go for further studies. We need expertise for the different departments including the challenges that the Church faces. I encourage more of our priests not to shy away from undertaking further studies,” he said during a function where Rev Dr Paul Grace Kakooza celebrated his attainment of a PhD in Luweero Town on Saturday.
In his PhD Thesis titled: ‘Retirement policy, implementation and welfare; a case of Church of Uganda retired Clergy in Buganda Dioceses, Rev. Kakooza analyses the effect of implementation of Church of Uganda retirement policy on welfare of retired clergy with the intention of recommending a model that can help cater for the needs of the clergy after retirement.
Rev Kakooza in his findings states that the welfare of a bigger section of the retired clergy in the Church of Uganda is not good.
“This is a true story and real life for many clergy that have retired. Many live a life that does not befit a former clergy. They are forgotten former savants who need to be helped. The study was my PhD Thesis,” Rev.Kakooza said briefly on Saturday.
Luweero Diocesan Bishop Eridard Nsubuga said the Diocese has always welcomed and encouraged its clergy to pursue further studies in the different fields that could boost their respective service delivery.
“We are not only celebrating the PhD award for one of our own ,but we have leant that he came up with a useful document that can help us improve the welfare of the retired Clergy. Dr Kakooza was the Luweero Diocese Secretary for Education before he went to serve at the Provincial level. We are blessed to be celebrating the PhD,” Bishop Nsubuga said on Saturday.
Dr Charles Kahigiriza, the Head teacher Ndejje Secondary School told Daily Monitor that the study on retirement policy, implementation and welfare is a good development for the Church.
“It is true that many of our clergy that have retired face many challenges. Such challenges send negative signals to many young people that could have liked to serve as priests and clergy. As a Christian, I believe that the Clergy play a very important role in the lives of our people and are part of community leaders. They need to live a better life after retirement,” Dr Kahigiriza said
