Pope visit: Namugongo shrine to open day earlier
What you need to know:
Preparations. The move is to allow VIPs access the venue smoothly.
Kampala. Organisers for the Pope’s Uganda visit have proposed to open Uganda Martyrs Shrine Namugongo a day earlier to allow pilgrims gather ahead of the Holy Father’s November 28 open-air mass there.
The Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) hopes letting in the faithful into the shrine from 2pm on Friday, November 27, and overnight until 7am the following day, would enable better traffic management.
All guests, it has been resolved, should be transported to the site by large-capacity vehicles to avoid congestion amid limited parking space. The protocol, accreditation and security subcommittee was told during a meeting on Tuesday, this week, that the UEC’s decision is to free up the road in time for some 2,800 VIPs and the papal convoy.
Among those expected at the shrine are 70 foreign bishops and 33 Ugandan counterparts, 2,800 Catholic priests, 20 invited Uganda Joint Christian Council and 700 accredited government officials.
“The implication is that 1,000 seats for the religious will be occupied by other VIPs and that Namugongo (Martyrs Shrine) [is] to be opened on November 27 at 2pm and closed on November 28 at 7am to allow for VIPs to access the venue,” minutes of the October 6 meeting, reads in part.
Children will particularly be seated in strategic positions to catch the eye of Pope Francis who, by previous travel examples, is certain to randomly pick up some to kiss and bless. Organisers expect two million people at the pontiff’s mass.
The Pope is expected to also visit the nearby Nakiyanja Church of Uganda (Protestant) martyrs shrine, but the Anglican leaders have been given the leeway to choose the clergy and other individuals for the papal audience.
The Catholic martyrs originally numbered 22 before the canonisation of Jildo Irwa and Daudi Okello, while another 23 belonged to the Protestant faith. All converts were executed on orders of Kabaka Mwanga II.
‘bridge builder’
Pope Francis is visiting as a “bridge builder”, UEC said early in the week, citing Ugandans’ political polarisation and lack of consensus on national issues. The church leaders implored the faithful in Uganda to repent their sins as a “worthy” preparation to receive the head of the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics worldwide.
