"I cannot keep quiet when I see the daily humiliation and misery and hear the cry of my people, he added."
The fact is: Priests and Nuns, the faithful of the church has always been the target of attacks by element of many a dictatorship in the world.
In El Salvado ( Central Ameria) I believe a Bishop was murder by fifth columist El Salvadorian Government agents who were somehow irritated with the Bishop's opposition to the campaign of massarce which was being conducted by the government of El Salvado.
In Guatamala the some story, Peru some story , Chili ( under Aguso Pinochet) some story
Even in our on Uganda Arch Bishop Jonan Luwum of the church of Uganda was Murder by Idi Amin's State Research. The Bishop was apparently accused of being a REBEL.
I would not be surprise if the NRM decide to MURDER Bishope Odama. In Fact the surprise is that he is Still alive!!!
Matek
Archbishop raps attack on church
KAMPALA
A UGANDAN Roman Catholic archbishop on Thursday charged that church officials and property were being targeted by the warring parties in the East African country's conflict.
It is more than evident that we, the faithful of the Catholic and Universal Church, are overtly and covertly attacked on our property and lives, Northern Uganda's John Baptist Odama said in a pastoral letter.
The attacks, he said, were a ploy to divide people, one against another, at this hour of great need of unity. I will not accept it. As honest people, we cannot accept that a political war, about forms of government and administration of the common good, has become religious, Odama's emotional letter said.
The Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group has been fighting Government troops in northern Uganda since 1988, ostensibly to replace the administration with a regime based on the Bible's Ten Commandments.
But their campaign has been marked by large-scale abductions of children and brutality against the civilians.
Lately, the attacks have targeted Catholic establishments including churches and schools.
It is unfair that we are continuously provoked as if we were belligerent people to be dealt with as enemies or compelled to fight.
I cannot keep quiet when I see the daily humiliation and misery and hear the cry of my people, he added.
We cannot ignore or close our eyes to the cruel conduct of warring parties and their daily heavy consequences on the children, he said, without naming any of the parties. ( no need to name the parties we know it is The UPDF)
The letter comes after Odama and other religious leaders in the region ended their night vigils on the streets of Gulu town where they slept since June 21 with thousands of children who retreat to the town in the evening for fear of abduction by the rebels from their homes in the suburbs.
afp
Published on: Saturday, 5th July, 2003
