Crowds surged to kiss Pope Paul VI’s

In 1969, Uganda made history when it became the first country on the African continent to host a Pope. The three-day visit took a lot of preparation as the Catholic fraternity and Uganda was host to not only the Pope, but a number of Catholic leadership from all over Africa. Fr Aylward Shorter was a lecturer at Gaba National Seminary where all the visiting bishops and other Catholic religious figures stayed. He conducted a symposium before the pope’s arrival. Fr Shorter kept a diary of events a few days before the arrival of the pontiff and the events of the three days the Holy Father graced Uganda up to his departure. Saturday Monitor shares with you his diary entries about the day.

July 23rd
There are papal flags, city and national flags, shields, flower boxes, and triumphal arches all over Kampala. The Government has also given generously to the cost of building the Namugongo shrine. The build-up for the visit has been excellent. Pope badges, Pope shirts, hats, dresses, ties and scarves, Pope ash-trays, Pope tea trays, and even Pope umbrellas have been on sale for a long time. Special stamps and coins have also been issued.

July 24
Bishop Brosnahan concelebrated Mass with the Gaba [seminary] staff and students. In the afternoon, I gave my lecture at Makerere. On my return to Gaba [seminary], the Archbishop-elect (Emmanuel Milingo) of Lusaka arrived. Several press men have also arrived.

July 25
More bishops arrived today. A big contingent on the plane from Lagos came in after dark. Cardinal Sidarouss, from Cairo, appeared in the afternoon and I took him on a tour of our institute. He was fascinated by a column of soldier ants he saw crossing the path.

July 26
Arose at 5.45am and supervised the English concelebration at which Archbishop Amissah of Cape Coast, Ghana, was the principal celebrant. After breakfast, I took part in a French concelebration at which Archbishop [André] Perraudin was the principal celebrant. Bishops continued to arrive all day and I was still waiting up at 2.15am in order to meet two Archbishops coming in from Madagascar. Finally, I went to bed, and sure enough they arrived at 4.25am. I rose and dressed and showed them to their rooms. Then went back to bed and rose at 6.30am.

July 27
The French concelebration was well-attended and the English one was packed. There were 36 concelebrants. Archbishops [Francis] Arinze of Onitsha and [John Kwao Amuzu] Aggey of Lagos arrived just as we were starting. In the afternoon, Cardinal [Laurean] Rugambwa, from Dar-es-Salaam and Archbishop [ Sergio] Pignedoli from Rome and the Pro-Nuncio, Archbishop Poggi arrived for an ice-breaking discussion.

July 28
The opening session of the Bishops’ Symposium started at 1230pm

July 29
In the afternoon, I went to the Press Conference where the Press Representatives managed to put their fingers on all the embarrassing questions. Cardinal [Paul] Zoungrana, from Upper Volta, was very good on the question of importing false European problems into Africa and Father Van Asten, the Superior General of the White Fathers, addressed the Symposium on the subject of the ministry, asking the bishops to set up a committee to study without prejudice the question of a married clergy.

July 30
The Bishops concelebrated a requiem for deceased missionaries at 11.30am. Bishop [Gervase] Nkalanga, of Kabale, Uganda, preached in English and Archbishop [Jean ] Zoa of Cameroon preached in French. More and more Bishops arrived today—those not participating in the Symposium.

July 31
The Day of Splendour—to quote the headlines of the Uganda Argus. The Bishops concelebrated at 10.30am and I assisted Cardinal Rugambwa as before. We watched the Pope’s arrival on television at 3pm. The Italian television produced superb pictures of the scene at Entebbe. We set off by bus for Rubaga Cathedral at 4.30pm. From the Clock Tower all the way down the Entebbe Road and all the way up to Rubaga, the pavements were jam-packed with a colossal crowd.

I have never seen anything like that tunnel of humanity through which we passed. We waited in the Cathedral two hours for the Pope’s coming. The interior was decorated with white and yellow silk and the choir was already singing and drumming. Archbishop [Louis Joseph] Cabana, WF [White Father], the former Archbishop of Rubaga, was given a standing ovation when he entered the Cathedral.

The Bishops and Cardinals then arrived, among them Cardinals Tisserant, Villot and Agagianian, followed by the Heads of State: Presidents Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, Mcombero and Kayibanda. President [Apollo Milton Obote] and Mrs [Miria] Obote of Uganda were given seats of honour in the nave.

At 6pm, the bells and drums sounded and when the Pope entered, the crowd went wild. After greeting the crowd in English, French and Luganda, the Pope sat down while an epistle was read in English and French. We then sang the Alleluia and Cardinal Rugambwa read the address on behalf of all the African Bishops. After the Pope had made his reply, he gave pectoral crosses to the members of the symposium, delivered the Papal blessing and went to pray at the tomb of Archbishop [Joseph] Kiwanuka, the first African Bishop. There was immense applause as he left the Cathedral.

August 1
After breakfast, we left for Kololo Hill at 7.30am. It was estimated that there were half a million people there. Everywhere, there were signs: “Rubaga Parish welcomes the Pope”, “Gulu Catechists welcome the Pope”, and even “Pepsi welcomes the Pope”. In the brilliant sunshine, the consecration ceremony of the 12 new Bishops turned out to be a complete success in spite of sundry hazards and hitches. The reading of the Bishops names—those to be consecrated—was very impressive and as each country was named, there was wild applause.

The Bishops of the Symposium concelebrated with the Pope and the other Cardinals and Bishops, among whom was Cardinal [Oswald] Gracias of Bombay, came forward to lay their hands on the newly consecrated bishops. At the consecration, I ascended to the altar steps together with other 99 priests. We each received a ciborium of 200 hosts [Holy Communion] to distribute communion to the crowd.

An usher attached himself to me and was very useful in helping me to find would-be communicants. One of the Gaba [seminary] students had the pleasure of giving communion to Presidents [Julius] Nyerere, [Gregoire] Kayibanda and [Michel] Micombero.
After the ceremony, the Pope shook hands with the altar boys, and distributed rings and pectoral crosses to the new Bishops. It was announced that their mitres, croziers and vestments were a present from the Pope. It was also announced that the Pope’s own vestments, mitre and crozier were being presented to Rubaga Cathedral. The Pope left in an open car and I was called forward to help guard the precious things at the altar.

I stood guard over the Pope’s vestments, mitre and crozier as the crowd surged forward onto the platform. The people wanted to touch the vestments, kiss the crozier and place rosaries on the Pope’s throne. I had to call a policeman to control the crowds because it was in danger of collapsing under the weight of the thousands crawling all over it.
I spent the rest of the day at Gaba [seminary] watching television and retired early.

August 2
At 7.15am, we departed by bus for Namugongo which we reached in just under an hour. The place was thronged with people. I was again among the priests who were to give communion to the people. The altar, built on an island connected to the mainland by a narrow bridge, had a thatched canopy supported by pillars decorated with reeds.

The canopy was hung with barkcloth and decorated with gourds, a truly African decor. At 9.45am, we heard the broadcast of the Pope’s visit to the Church of Uganda shrine a mile away. Archbishop Erica Sabiti of Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, greeted the Pope, who then went to kneel at the place where the 19 Catholics and Protestants were burnt.

He was then presented with a copy of Dr [Louise] Pirouet’s book on the Martyrs of Uganda, introduced to the other Anglican bishops (all of them African except one) and listened to two Scripture readings.

Archbishop Sabiti spoke in praise of the work of the Ugandan Christian Council of which Bishop [Vincent] McCauley is president. Then the Pope and the Archbishop recited the Lord’s Prayer and called down the Holy Spirit on the Assembly. At 9.05am, we heard shouting and we knew that the Pope had reached the Catholic shrine on the top of the hill. In its unfinished state, the shrine looks rather like a fairground machine, or a “big dipper”. The Pope kissed the ground on which St Charles Lwanga was burnt and then consecrated the altar of the shrine. He also blessed a score of foundation stones for other buildings in East Africa.

The humility
Once on the island, the Pope bowed to President Obote and the other Heads of State, waved to the crowds and then began the Mass. A Tanzanian Gaba [seminary] student read the epistle in Swahili and a Ugandan read the Gospel in Luganda.

The Pope gave a splendid homily, simple, direct, and in question-and-answer form which all the African English speakers present could understand. It was about the beauty of the Christian faith for which the Uganda martyrs had died and into which young Christians were to be baptised at this Mass.

After the singing of the Credo and a short Litany, the Pope baptized and confirmed 22 young Africans. After the Mass, Archbishop [Emmauel] Nsubuga of Kampala gave President Obote an unscheduled invitation on to the island. The Pope thanked the President for all the Government had done and the President announced that the new road from Kireka to Namugongo, was to be called Pope Paul VI Road.
The Pope and the President then left the island arm in arm and the crowd went wild with delight.

During the day, the Pope received a Muslim delegation and they had prayers together. There were banners proclaiming the heroism of the Muslim martyrs along Namugongo road.

We got back to Gaba [seminary] at 2pm and later I left by car for a semi-private audience with the Pope at Rubaga for organisers of the visit. The Pope gave a bronze bas-relief of the martyrs to Namugongo, a medal to each of the organisers and a mystery present to Gaba [seminary], the identity of which we do not yet know. He also presented $20,000 [about Shs67m today] to Namugongo shrine, and medals to all the newly baptised, confirmed and communicated.

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