Uganda visit was a gift from God

VERITABLY, we have both been pastoral guinea pigs this year. The majority of priestly formation takes place in the seminary structure—for us, in the Scots College in Rome. However, this year, the Bishop’s Conference of Scotland has implemented a new phase of training, taking place around the half-way point of our studies.

This new period—known as the pastoral year—aims to give us real, lived experience of the life of a priest, and to prepare us to respond to the many and varied needs of those who would be in our care.

Most of this experience took place in parishes around the Diocese of Motherwell, however, we were also gifted the opportunity to take this time of growth and learning further afield, further even than Rome—we were invited to spend six weeks with the people of Uganda, in the parish of Kigumba on the west side of the country.  

Warm welcome

After an exhausting full day of travel, throngs of children singing and dancing ushered us in to our new home. This was the first of many signs of great hospitality and welcome that we became so accustomed to throughout our time in Uganda.

The number of priests in Kigumba might make us think of another era in Scotland. Alongside the parish priest, there were also two young assistant priests. This was essential due to the huge numbers of parishioners and the parish having 19 mission stations, known as chapels.

Assisting them in their pastoral governance were many catechists—one caring for each of these chapels. The work was so great that many of these chapels had to wait weeks for a Sunday Mass, so these catechists led prayers in the places where priests could not always be. 

The children of Kigumba were a delight, eager to meet us, full of laughter and carry-on. We decided that since they had sung for us, we would teach them a song from back home- before long, a whole school of children in rural Uganda were belting out You Cannae Shove Yer Granny Aff a Bus.

We spent a lot of time interacting with students, comparing life in Uganda with life in Scotland—one little boy asked whether we had snow and apples in Scotland.

We were invited to the home of the local chairman, and were invited to sing and dance with his family, much to their amusement. I’d say they were impressed by our moves, but perhaps they were just being polite!  

Simple life

Life is simple in Kigumba, with many comforts and expectations from our lives in Scotland absent. This gave us a newfound appreciation of the gifts we have been given back home, which are not always guaranteed for Ugandans—water that is fresh and freely accessible, electricity that does not cut out regularly, peace and security in daily life.

A major difference relates to how the average person sustains themselves. While we are used to the 9 to 5, buying our messages from supermarkets as the mood takes us, most people in Uganda grow their own food on their own land, with many never holding money in their hand. They are totally reliant on their crops and animals, which is both an honest living—giving them a connection to the environment that many of us have lost—and a source of worry, as a drought or flood could devastate their lives. We both noted that the parables of Christ must be very immediately pertinent to the people of Uganda; they do not need to have the Parable of the Sower or the Labourers in the Vineyard explained to them because their everyday life reflects the lives of those people Jesus spoke to 2000 years ago.  

Growing Church

In fact, many elements of parish life in Kigumba bring to mind the early Church. The parishioners are known by all simply as 'the Christians,' the church buildings are simple, and many people walk for hundreds of miles on pilgrimage.

The main pilgrimage in Uganda for Catholics centres around the famous Ugandan Martyrs of the 19th century. These impressive national figures of devotion feel very much present in the Ugandan Church of today, recalling a time of persecution and trial, giving strength and encouragement to those who continue today to build up a Church which is still relatively young, and relatively poor. 

Despite this lack of resources, however, it was sobering and educational to see just how much this still-growing Church helps others. We can sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that the Church in Uganda—and Africa as a whole—is solely one to be helped, to receive from us; but, as we saw, this was certainly not the full picture. The parish of Kigumba regularly collects clothes, food and necessities to bring to the local migrant camp, in order to help those who are less fortunate than them, something which opened our eyes. Out of the little that they had—like the Widow Jesus encountered in the Gospels—they had chosen to help others.

We were privileged to participate in this endeavour, taking part in Mass at the migrant camp with many families from Syria, Sudan and disaster-struck areas in other parts of Uganda. Once again, here, we were met with a warm welcome and great hospitality from those we encountered.

There is a local custom in Uganda, wherein many people, not having much in the way of physical money, would instead bring their produce—the work of their hands—to Mass as an offering, with many of these fruits, vegetables and animals being auctioned off to raise money to support local projects. Many a time we were gifted huge bunches of local bananas, large cartons of eggs, and even live chickens by those who had come to worship at Mass.  

Strong faith

The liturgies in Uganda were something to behold. There was certainly no issue with cooperation here. Never have we seen a people with such a musical disposition, with full congregations breaking out into spontaneous four part harmonies, accompanied by the local lute-like instrument, the endongo, drums and a lot of ululating. Those who would wish for a quick, in-and-out Mass would be left quite disappointed, as Masses and services here are, by custom, very long. Funerals were three to four hours long, and the Confirmations we took part in were more than six hours long.

Perhaps we won’t be seeing marathon Masses back in Scotland anytime soon, but there is still something to be learned here for us—the Ugandan people are used to giving up large amounts of their time to be together to worship, to settle in to the liturgy. Are we sometimes, only prepared to give the bare minimum of our time to God and to each other in prayer? Maybe we could learn to be more patient instead of constantly glancing at our watches. We should allow ourselves to be fully immersed in the sacred worship we share, in this central mystery of our faith; not treating our time with the Lord and each other as something to be endured, but as a joyous coming together, as a sign of what our lives will be like in Heaven.

Just as the martyrs made an indelible mark on the faith of Uganda, these humble and generous people have made a mark on us. The idea of gift permeated the faith of the Ugandan people and so our time with them—and the witness of this joyous and giving attitude—is one of the greatest gifts they have given us. We went expecting to give, but instead we received—friendship, experience and new eyes with which to see the faith we share—the faith that transcends all borders. 

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