UGANDA 1/6/2004 15:20
CARDINAL MARTINO IN DISPLACED CAMP: âI HAVE COME TO WEEP WITH YOUâ
Church/Religious Affairs, Standard
âI have come to weep with youâ: this is how Cardinal Renato Martino, chairman of
the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, addressed the Ugandans in the displaced
camp of Pagak, near Gulu, in North Uganda, a blood-stained land by the relentless
rebellion that above all strikes civilians. The Cardinal stopped to pray on the tomb
of a recently buried woman: she was injured in the May 16 attack, one of countless
massacres perpetrated by the rebels in which 30 people were killed. MISNA sources on
the scene refer that Cardinal Martino â profoundly touched by the scene of
devastation and grief â spent some time with the family of the victim, who died last
night in hospital. âI bring you the condolences of the Popeâ, said the prelate,
who in these days is visiting the zones afflicted by over 18 years of a forgotten war.
âThe sacrifice of many innocent lives will be the seed to harvest into fruits of
peace in your nationâ, added Cardinal Martino to the family. A few minutes earlier
the Cardinal had stopped before the tomb of Dorotea Akech, killed by the rebels in mid
May and buried next to her husband, shot dead two months earlier by government
soldiers, leaving their three children â 12, 9 and 5yrs-old, orphans. The chairman
of the Vatican Council of âJutice and Peaceâ arrived this morning in Gulu, the
main city of North Uganda, where he was welcomed by thousands of people in the
Cathedral. Accompanied by the Apostolic Nuncio Monsignor Pierre Christoph and Guluâs
Archbishop Monsignor John-Baptist Odama, Cardinal Martino met with some
representatives of the district authorities, which expressed strong appreciation for
the peace efforts of the local Church, also recognised by the government of Kampala.
The Cardinal defined the Archbishop of Gulu as âa pastor close to the sufferingâ.
Those who suffer in this land are mainly children, privileged victims of the LRA
(lordâs Resistance Army), the armed formation that in the past years has abducted
thousands of children (over 20,000 according to local sources), forcing them to become
child-soldiers or slaves of the commanders. âThe objective of my visit â commented
Cardinal Martino on meeting with the district commissioner Max Omeda and Lieutenant
Colonel Walter Ochora â is to encourage the Church and various groups of the civil
society to work together for peace. I hope that steps can be taken on the path toward
dialogueâ. The Cardinal also stated that the international community has given
little attention to this conflict; a few months ago UN Under-Secretary for
Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland defined the situation as âamong the worst
humanitarian crises of the planetâ. Later today Cardinal Martino will visit the
assistance centre for abducted children and a structure of the Lachor Hospital
complex, a few kilometres from Gulu, where each night around 10-thousand
ânight-commuterâ children take shelter, abandoning their villages from fear of
rebel attacks. His visit will proceed tomorrow in Kigtum and Kalongo, in another
district, while on June 3 he will preside a solemn mass for Ugandan martyrs at the
Namugongo sanctuary, near Kampala.
[BO]
