Ugandan Catholic Archbishop Faults Use of “tolerance” in Fostering Religious Freedom, Advocates for “respect”

While he acknowledged that the subject of religious freedom “complex,” the Ugandan-born member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ) called upon the people of God to take pride in their religious identity and resist the temptation to use religion as a tool for “oppressing one another.”

“This is a very complex thing, as you may be perceiving. Most of these things come as a result of uncertainty in building the identity of who we are,” Archbishop Wokorach said referring to incidents of conflicts due to religious differences in some parts of Africa.

In the June 17 interview with ACI Africa on the sidelines of the one-day summit held under the theme, “Africa Together: A Continental Call to Religious Freedom”, the Catholic Church leader said that he believes that “no religion is preparing to be against the other.”

“If the people are prepared to be identified and take pride in it, because it links them with the true God, then it shouldn't put them against the other,” he said.

The MCCJ Archbishop, whose transfer from Uganda’s Nebbi Catholic Diocese to Gulu Archdiocese was made public on March 2024 also appealed for support toward the successful realization of the provision of basic education and the revival of Small Christian Communities (SCCs), key pastoral priorities he has identified for the people of God in his Metropolitan See.

“I thought that we should have pastoral priorities for our people,” he told ACI Africa, recalling a pastoral needs assessment study he spearheaded following his Episcopal Installation as Archbishop of Gulu in July 2024.

He added, “I was transferred to Gulu last year, and when I came, I tried to look around, talking to people, praying, and reflecting on the reality.”

Following a period of prayer, consultation, and discernment, Archbishop Wokorach recalled, he felt compelled to address the high number of school-age children who are out of school and vulnerable to criminal activities due to illiteracy and widespread poverty.

“They go around, not working, but trying to survive through violent means and so forth. That is part of the reality,” he said, and emphasized the need to respond to the situation by providing “proper education.”

The Local Ordinary of Gulu decried the acute shortage of qualified teachers, saying it is hampering his Metropolitan See’s efforts to evangelize “through education”.

“I call it evangelizing through education. We are currently short of primary and secondary school teachers. That poses a problem. We want to do a lot, you have the children, but who is teaching them?” he lamented.

During the June 17 interview, Archbishop Wokorach, who started his Episcopal Ministry in August 2021 said that basic education serves as a crucial foundation for the development of all other professions.

“I know some people were saying that even the health sector needs immediate attention, but first let us educate, we shall have nurses and all the rest. If we run to health, then we shall not have nurses; we shall not have doctors; we shall not have teachers,” he said.

He said that his Metropolitan See, located in Northern Uganda is “trying to innovate and help to train more teachers” and appealed for support in establishing a “sponsorship fund” to facilitate the professional training of “additional teachers.”

The 64-year-old Catholic Archbishop also told ACI Africa that he has earmarked the revival of SCCs in Gulu Archdiocese, not only as a tool for evangelization but also as a means of promoting economic empowerment.

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“I also underlined that we must revive them (SCCs) because over the years as a result of the wars and so forth, villages were kind of destroyed as people were moved into camps,” he said, alluding to a brutal civil war that displaced more than 1.5 million people in Northern Uganda.

Archbishop Wokorach recalled that SCC concept was severely “eroded” by the civil war that affected much of the Gulu Archdiocese. He expressed his desire to revive the SCCs “not just as prayer group assemblies, but by animating them in a way that they become conscious of working to revive economic means.”

“As much as we wait for help, let the people also become appreciative, appreciate that they are gifted with skills, gifted with resources, and natural resources. I would like to work with them in that path,” he explained. 

The Catholic Church leader appealed for partnerships to “facilitate us to get tools, tools for farming in these Small Christian Communities” adding that it is “fundamental” to help communities engage in “serious farming that can help them stand on their own and support the Church better.”