A treasure to jealously guard and enhance

The warm welcome given to Pope Francis in his recent visit to Uganda portrayed us before
the world as a deeply religious and united country. The streams of people from all corners of
the country flowing into Kampala to see the Pontiff, coupled with images of enthusiastic
faithful waving to him, some of them – in a gesture similar to that of the biblical Zacchaeus –
climbing trees to catch a glimpse of the Vicar of Christ, revealed a joyful nation peopled with
generous hearts. Who did not rejoice to see our president and his wife, and practically all the
other important public figures, receiving the Holy Father and uniting themselves to the prayer
of the Catholic faithful in the Mass at Namugongo? How about those meetings with the
President at State House, and with the Kabaka at Lubaga? ... and those cordial moments spent
with the Anglican bishops and the faithful at the Namugongo Anglican Shrine and the new
museum? All these gestures say a lot not only about the Catholic presence, but, indeed, about
all Ugandans, presenting us a nation in which the joy of life can be smelt in the very air we
breathe. In fact, joy, when it fills the human heart, pours itself out towards others in gestures
of love and generosity. Ugandans once again confirmed that our country is, indeed, the Pearl
of Africa. The striking contrast with the sister country to which the Pope flew on leaving
Uganda confirms this affirmation. Unlike the Central African Republic, torn to shreds by
seemingly insoluble conflicts purportedly based on religious differences, our country presents
a real constellation of religious creeds woven harmoniously into a rich mosaic in which
diversity is the very root of unity.

All these treasures of unity, truth, goodness and beauty can, however, be lost, and Uganda has
her own experience to tell in this regard. A hundred and twenty years ago, the failure to
respect each other’s religious creed, the refusal to accept and love the other one in his unique
and unrepeatable reality, led to those pernicious religious wars that were a strange replication
of similar fratricidal acts between the Arabs and Europeans, and between the Europeans
themselves, up to three hundred and fifty years before! Immensely more bitter, however, is
the story that the decades that followed our greatly celebrated independence were to witness:
what rivers of innocent blood have flown, staining the pearl of Africa and converting our
Eden into a real hell! This is the terrible disillusion of the post independence period, that, in
fact, continues to present itself even to the present day. In this case, however, the roots do not
present themselves always as immediately based on religion. They seem to be based, rather,
on other factors, such as tribe, language and social class, although sometimes they make use
of religion as a pretext.

Be it, however, the case of the religious conflicts, of the tribal ones or of any other type, the
underlying causes prove to be always the love of money and the rejection of the other person.
The so-presented religious wars were in fact power struggles for important positions in the
Buganda Kingdom, positions that were perceived as key to wealth and honour. It is the same,
transported to the Ugandan level, in the post-independence turmoil. Can anyone deny the fact
that the persistent corruption that has dug so deeply into our society, becoming almost a
second – false – culture, is an extremely dangerous prolongation of this turmoil, and itself a
cause for innumerable other misfortunes at present and dangers for the future?
The rejection of the other is enhanced by the limitedness of the resources – political posts,
wealth – that the contending parties seek, but its real cause is an underlying love of self to the
exclusion of the others. The real differences between people are not the reason, then, for
conflict, but only the excuse. It can almost be said that such differences are sought and
deliberately highlighted in order to provoke conflict. Our national experience proves this fact:
before Buganda’s incorporation into Uganda deadly religious conflicts arose between people
of the same language and culture – Baganda – claiming as their basis their religious
differences. After the incorporation into Uganda, the conflicts are based on tribal differences!
The fact is that a homicidal person always finds an excuse for rejecting his fellow man. Such
a person has interest only in their own advantage, and the brother happens to be another,
distinct from oneself. In the final analysis, even the apparent solidarity that such people have
with respect to others of their “we” group, be this the tribe, the religious grouping, the social
class or whichever other, is not really based on a true interest in these colleagues as persons,
but, rather, as “less different from me than the others”. It is evident that a love for some, to
the exclusion of others, is never a genuine one, unless it is matrimonial in nature!

There are innumerable other threats to the harmonious and integral development of our
country, and of each of her individual children. Besides the endemic poverty that is a result of
corruption, and the malfunctioning of diverse sectors due to the naked lack of a patriotic spirit
and interest in other people on the part of those who occupy the concerned positions, there
are many contagious vices which, if they are left to thrive, can bring whole nations – even
very great ones – to their very knees. This happens, for example, when the youth and young
adults do not want to work nor to study, or when they do not want to give themselves to each
other in faithful marriage. No less dangerous for a nation is the situation that results when her
citizens no longer want to have children, or do not make the effort to educate them well: such
a nation is finished! All these, and many other threats, are already daily reality in many parts
of the world, and they are progressively eating into our own society as well! They are worse
enemies of the state and of society than the feared and over-publicized terrorists! When
examined closely, however, they turn out to be simply forms of egoism, of the excessive cult
of personal interests and advantages without any regard for the other persons.

It is clear, hence, that the key to authentic and integral national growth lies in a spirited fight
against egocentrism in all its forms. Egocentrism, however, is in reality only a deformation of
the natural and legitimate love of self without which it is impossible to love anyone else! This
partly explains why egoism is so deep-rooted in the human heart and always remains at least
as a subtle danger as long as one is alive. For this reason, struggle against the weed of egoism
from society cannot be directed against the individuals perceived as egocentric, otherwise
even the good seed would end up being uprooted, since, in fact, everyone of us falls, in one
way or another, in both categories. The solution lies, rather, in a solid and holistic education,
founded on true anthropologic principles. Such formation of the human person is necessarily
life-long, and is imparted and received in various forms. Everyone of us, therefore, has their
own part to play: parents, teachers, religious leaders, opinion leaders, politicians, journalists,
peers, and, above all, each one in regard to their own selves. A true love for our country and
for all people, an authentic patriotism that does not degenerate into the nationalistic hatred of
the other nations in the name of loving one’s own, will move everyone of us to
conscientiously and zealously strive to fulfil their own role.

A genuine education must, however, as I have already noted, be founded on valid

anthropologic principles, on an accurate concept of what the human person is. The first datum
that such a notion takes into consideration is necessarily the question of the foundation of the
human existence in God. The modern and contemporary periods have been characterised by a
determined struggle to expel God from society, and the results are clear for everyone to see:
how many dozens of millions of war dead and victims of brutal regimes and other forms of
violence that even now continue to plague innumerable parts of the world! The proliferation
of euthanasia and abortion, of pornography and of other shameful vices! That is what follows
when man rejects God and presumes to be self-sufficient. The natural love for self turns into
the egocentrism that seeks the destruction of the other and ends up destroying oneself as well.

It is imperative, therefore, for each one in their own capacity, to work on our personal and
common formation and growth, and simultaneously cultivate and nourish our religious
heritage in its harmonious diversity and unity, since “the fear of God is the beginning of
wisdom”. Then the joy that was manifested at the coming of Pope Francis will continuously
grow both in profundity and abundance. Fidelity to this obligation is always a necessary sign
of true love for our country, and especially now as we prepare for national elections. FOR
GOD AND MY COUNTRY.