One wonders how a bishop from a different Catholic rite would reject activities of another rite!
Since the beginning of 2016 a lot has happened until the consequent switch by Rev Fr Jacinto Kibuuka from the Roman Catholic Church to another international Catholic rite mid-last year.
A lot was said and everyone doubted the survival for his church. It was everyone’s time to gauge whether this young servant of God would have any formidable muscle to stand the time or even manage to have a following of sane, elite and committed followers!
To the amazement of the many, a multitude of followers kept with him and went ahead and bought land to allow him fellowship and pray for them. The numbers continued to grow and you may not imagine the numbers in his services.
Despite the rigorous campaign to tarnish him, this has to the contrary made him more popular. The rite he joined appreciated him and in their wisdom, after a year-long scrutiny, have gone ahead to elevate him to Bishop.
He is a bishop in another rite and thus a “non-concern” for anyone to have the moral authority to comment on issues there. It becomes shameful for PhD holders to provide unresearched information.
When we focus on the intention to sue Kibuuka for the reasons advanced by Mbabali, the Chairperson of the Uganda Catholic Lawyers’ Association, one would question the un-researched utterances from the lawyer.
Is this an association of the entire fraternity of Catholic lawyers of the various Catholic rites?
Is this learned friend aware of the many other Catholic rites now in Uganda or he is an impostor over lawyers who subscribe to the other Catholic rites?
There is a lot to do by our brothers to re-understand “Catholicism”, but the fact is, arrogance always prohibits humility required for knowledge acquisition. It is an offence for Bishop Kibuuka to be referred to as an “impostor”.
It is also ridiculous for one referred to as learned friend to not know that an ordained priest is referred to as Reverend Father forever and everlastingly and that it is from among the priests that bishops are chosen.
It is not a requirement for one to undertake any other form of initiation to be chosen by God to be a bishop, but only a confirmation of this responsibility through an apostolic consecration process, which is true for Bishop Kibuuka.
Within the EOC the word “Mass” is non-existent; the equivalent is the “Divine Liturgy”.
So, the lawyer needs to research before appearing with misleading information. There must be proof about vestments that are exclusively Roman Catholic and not worn by any other Catholic rite.
Once again, I challenge the dear learned friend to read the Holy Bible Exodus 28:2 and beyond, to enable him establish the episcopal vestments and that from here he will discover that there is no culture of monopoly for episcopal vestments since the Bible does not discriminate who should wear what apart from highlighting vestments for a Bishop and the entire consecration process.
There is no single mention of the exclusivity in the vestments for the Roman Catholics. There shall be need for proof that the same vestments were bought from monopolized chain shops for the Roman Catholic Church and proof of registration of reserved copyright.
Does this claim by the learned friend intend to mean that the vestments worn by EOC bishops as they appeared for the consecration function, shall also be of concern or he aims at only those worn by Kibuuka?
The utterances raise illogical substance from this lawyer because EOC existed before Kibuuka joined it. On the claim for usage of Songs in the Divine Liturgy; the learned friend should have been in better position to know that there is no monopoly or ownership of godly words. The cultural names referring to God are universally used.
For example, the word Katonda, Namugereka or Ddunda…can you say this is Roman Catholic and neither Anglican nor Orthodox!? It is these common words that are combined to form lyrics and rhymes for praise. Let us keep serving the Lord and not dwell on earthly trivialities.
About the Apostolic succession lineage, which was of much concern for others, as though sinning is a reserve of the non-apostolic lineage-leaning persons. It is important to note that Bishop Kibuuka has an apostolic lineage and thus a homework for the PhD holders to get this free information.
There is free information and free access to this information. About the government support to Bishop Kibuuka; this is ridiculous to have come out of such a lawyer.
Government is mandated to support every citizen where possible for a genuine cause, without discrimination. It is also public knowledge that among all religious institutions in Uganda, the Catholic Church has had a lion’s share of the national resources in the recent past.
We have heard about billions of shillings for Namugongo shrine, Kiwamirembe and cars for bishops, among other offers from government. What would be wrong with government supporting Bishop Kibuuka? Is there any monopoly for receipt of support from the government?
This is the highest form of arrogance. Further, someone shall have to prove the amounts of monies mentioned in the press as having been given to Bishop Kibuuka and to prove they were for destabilization of the Roman Catholic Church.
It is time people realized that the now most respected Bishop Jacinto Kibuuka belongs to another Catholic rite. No one should think of judging him any longer as a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
I urge the revered Most Reverends and other clerics to desist from looking at Bishop Kibuuka as a threat, but to only find an opportunity to appreciate the work he does. Leave judgment to God and continued utterances against him may attract individual liability before courts of law.
The writer is an EOC believer