Bukoba, 05 August, 2020 / 11:30 pm (ACI Africa).
A Catholic Priest from Tanzania’s Diocese of Bukoba who quit his active Priestly ministry to vie for a political seat in the upcoming general elections in the East African nation has been suspended, his Bishop announced in a letter made available to the wider public August 3.
In the letter, Bishop Desiderius Rwoma reveals the Priest’s correspondence with him in which he announced his decision “to resign from the priesthood.”
“I am sorry to inform you that Fr. Ildephonce Katundu wrote me a letter to resign from the priesthood of his own free will and leave to go unnoticed without any discussion with me or my permission,” Bishop Rwoma of Bukoba has stated in letter dated July 24.
The Bishop adds in the letter addressed to members of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference (TEC) in reference to Fr. Ildephonce, “So far he has no official residence where he is known to live. My efforts to contact him so far have failed.”
In the one-page letter obtained by ACI Africa, the 73-year-old Tanzanian Prelate reveals that Fr. Ildephonce had “announced his intention to run for the Nkenge Constituency Assembly (2020-2025),” an interest the Bishop did not approve of.
