Government names team for Pope’s visit

Some of the members of the team

What you need to know:

Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who heads the team, says they are going to work in collaboration with the Church to ensure the papal visit is successful and memorable.

Kampala- Government has set up a high profile team of ministers and technocrats to head and coordinate preparations for Pope Francis’ visit to Uganda later this year, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday.

The team, which was set up under the directive of President Museveni, is led by Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda.

He is assisted by the ministers of Tourism, Works, the Presidency, Internal Affairs, Finance, Foreign Affairs and Office of the Prime Minister.

The team will also include representatives from the National Planning Authority, the Catholic Church and other stakeholders.

It will be supported by a technical team, the National Organising Committee, according to the statement.
The first planning meeting for the Pope’s visit was held on Friday in the Prime Minister’s office in Kampala. During the meeting, which was chaired by Dr Rugunda, preliminary discussions regarding the requirements for the Pope’s tour were presented.

“We are delighted as a government and country, for having been considered by His Holiness the Pope to be one of the countries he will visit when he comes to Africa this year. We are proud of the heritage and cordial relationship Uganda enjoys with the Vatican, and the special relationship with the Church, notably, the unique place of Uganda Martyrs in the history of the Church,” reads a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s communications advisor, Mr Julius Mucunguzi.

“The fact that two Popes have visited Uganda in the past, and now, with His Holiness Pope Francis coming as well, is not something we take for granted.”

The statement further quotes Dr Rugunda as saying: “We are going to work collectively as a government and in collaboration with the Church, and other stakeholders, to ensure that this papal visit becomes successful and memorable.”

The Apostolic Nuncio in Kampala Michael Blume said his office had not received any official communication from the Vatican regarding the Pope’s visit and asked Ugandans to pray that the news about the impending papal trip comes true.

Archbishop Blume said any preparations for the papal visit should begin after the Vatican has officially announced he is coming.

While on flight from Philippines back to the Vatican recently, the Pope was asked by journalists about his plans to go to Africa and he said he was contemplating to visit Uganda and the Central African Republic later this year.
Later the media reported enthusiastically about the visit in a manner suggestive that the papal trip had been confirmed.

“I respond hypothetically. The plan is to go to the Central African Republic and to Uganda this year,” Blume quoted the Pope as responding to the journalists’ question in flight about his planned visit to Africa.

Archbishop Blume was quoted in the local media yesterday saying that while the media reported excitedly about the visit, it was important to note that the Pope’s word “hypothetically” which means that his visit to Uganda or Africa was a plan still under consideration, but not a confirmation of his coming.

Brief background

The international media last week announced that the Pope had indicated that he would visit Uganda and the Central African Republic in his planned visit to Africa later this year.

However, the Pope’s representative in Uganda on Friday called for restraint on excitement about the Pope’s visit which he said might not happen after all.