By Mulengera Reporters
Interacting with some of His Grace’s close assistants, Mulengera News has established that after receiving a direct phone call from the President, the Kampala Archbishop Paul Semogerere did contact the Papal Nuncio in Mbuya and shared with the Apostolic Nunciature the dilemma Gen Museveni’s demands had placed him under.
As we now know, from Winnie Byanyima who on Sunday heard directly from the Archbishop, Gen Museveni directed the top Catholic prelate to call off the special prayers for Dr. Kizza Besigye and other political prisoners.
Gen Museveni demanded in that phone call that the much-anticipated service be put off indefinitely to enable him verify reports, he claimed to have received from intelligence, to the effect that this was a disguised political gathering calculated to give platform to his opponents to ride on the retired Colonel’s plight to further demonize his government’s already battered image.
Semogerere’s dilemma related to the fact that his office had for days been working with Besigye’s family members led by Winnie Byanyima, to effect coordinated messaging about the special mass. The Monday prayer session had indeed been promoted by Catholic priests through the weekend prayers including inside the very Rubaga Cathedral.
Semogerere himself had told worshippers about it as he led prayers at Kitebi parish where he also mocked ruling party politicians for being beneficiaries of sham elections.
He referred to NUP politicians Euginia Nassolo (Rubaga South MP-elect), Zachary Mberaze (Rubaga Division Mayor-elect) and Julius Katongole whose victory for area Lord Councillor was hijacked as the NRM machinery advised him to go and challenge their win in Court.
So, in his interactions with his superiors at Mbuya, Semogerere wondered what he was going to tell the country about the cancelled Besigye prayers, without hurting the reputation of the Catholic Church, which is one of the most powerful institutions in Uganda.
He didn’t even know how to deliver the news to his Christian Winnie Byanyima whose request for special prayers for her spouse, he had conspicuously granted. Besigye and Winnie Byanyima were wedded in Rubaga Cathedral in 1999, which makes this a special church in their marriage life.
In fact, Besigye asked and requested for this special mass through his wife Byanyima and specifically chose Rubaga Cathedral. After having her wish granted by the archbishop, Winnie Byanyima went ahead to convene a news conference on Saturday at her Kasangati residence publicizing the Monday prayer event and calling upon Ugandans of good will to turn up at Rubaga.
They indeed responded. There was a sizeable crowd and people began arriving as early as 12pm. It was in consultation with Mbuya, which represents the Pope (global head of the Catholic Church) and the Vatican, that Semogerere opted to make a phone call summoning Winnie Byanyima to his residence at Rubaga Cathedral on Sunday.
It was here that he broke the bad news to her and it was agreed that the information flow and breaking of the strange news to the public be handled very cautiously. He implored her to be cautious not to incite the public to castigate him for bending a knee to Gen Museveni, as she shared out the bad news of the cancelled prayers.
There was conviction that meeting Byanyima alone and informing her about the bad news would placate the archbishop from having to be the one to stand before the congregation amidst media cameras and announce “I’m unable to conduct this special mass because the President ordered me not to.”
His superiors at Mbuya concluded that doing such a thing would humiliate the archbishop and have the effect of diminishing the entire Catholic Church’s authority over Rubaga Cathedral, which has been theirs for more than 100 years.
Going forward, Semogerere was advised by the Vatican representative to leave the rest of the matter to Mbuya which undertook to formally file a diplomatic cable about the same to the Holy See. The authorities at Vatican would subsequently be expected to raise the matter directly with Gen Museveni and (in confidence) register their strong condemnation while demanding that such political interference into the church business never happens again.
The cancelation of the service was indeed a huge humiliation to the archbishop Paul Semogerere because he personally had been involved in preparation and confirmation of all the content that was put in the 20-page order of mass book that was designed and produced in PFF party colours, with the portrait of a smiling Besigye being prominently emblazoned on the cover, besides the Rubaga Cathedral towers.
“The booklet went through rigorous vetting and approval to ensure everything was well put. The archbishop’s name was disclosed on the 1st page after he had confirmed availability and accepted being the ‘mass chief celebrant.’ This cancelation is simply unprecedented and has the effect of diminishing the authority of the Catholic Church in Uganda,” said one of the key assistants to the archbishop on strict anonymity given the sensitivity of the matter. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
