UGANDA 3/6/2004 19:43 HOMILY OF CARDINAL MARTINO FOR MARTYRS OF NAMUGONGO Church/Religious Affairs, Standard æganda, new beloved land of Christ, needs good Samaritans? this is among the main concepts of the homily that Cardinal Renato Raffaele Martino, Chairman of the Justice and Peace Pontifical Council, pronounced today in Namugongo during a Solemn Mass by him presided and concelebrated by members of the Ugandan Bishops Conference, in occasion of the annual ceremonies for the Day of St. Charles Lwanga and the other Ugandan martyrs slain between 1885 and 1886. In the past days, the Cardinal visited Gulu and Kitgum, meeting with crowds of refugees and displaced and remaining deeply touched by the many children that in North Uganda, to escape the rebels of the LRA (lordæ Resistance Army), are forced to each night leave their homes in the outskirts and spend the night out in the open in the urban centres. æhen your neighbouræ house is in flames, do not wait; help to extinguish the flames before the house burns? continued the homily of the Cardinal, a phrase that along with the emphasis on good Samaritans, rang like an invitation to the South of the nation to engage in efforts to assist the afflicted populations of the North. Hundreds of thousands of worshippers arrived, with every means, from all parts of Uganda for todayæ celebrations at the Sanctuary of Namugongo ?15km south-east of Kampala - in memory not only of St. Carlo Lwanga, but also other 21 martyrs that, along with another few dozen Anglican youths, at the end of the XIX century testified their faith until death; canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1964, are commonly considered the protectors of modern Africa, torn by wars and afflictions, but also able to generate, through its civil society, extraordinary witnesses of hope. In the homily Cardinal Martino also cited a pastoral letter of the Ugandan Bishops Conference, dated 14 April 2004, on the theme æ preoccupation for peace, unity and harmony in Uganda?and which referred to the dramatic condition of the North of the nation. æou Africans are your own missionaries?Paul VI stated in Kampala in 1969 and recalled today by Cardinal Martino along with a thought of Pope John Paul II on the æew creativity in charity? then adding: æt is you, population of Africa, you of Uganda that must become good Samaritans?despite the aid offered by European, Asian and American æonors? With particular emphasis on the situation of the children of North Uganda and their agonising living conditions, the Cardinal once again invited all Ugandans, even in their respect, to pose themselves as good Samaritans. Cardinal Martino therefore underlined that æaints are not extraterrestrial figures and sainthood is not necessarily a privilege of few?and that martyrdom, as testified by todayæ recurrence in Uganda, has a great æcumenical meaning? [BO] N¬±êï‰Ç²,µçhžØ^"wèr‰§zÜ(®Hm¶Ÿÿà "ú ¢g(º
