Kitgum bishop-elect ‘ready to kneel’ to heal divided diocese

KITGUM. With his consecration and enthronement set for today, Kitgum bishop-elect Wilson Kitara says he is prepared to kneel down if that is what it takes to achieve genuine forgiveness and reconciliation among his bitterly divided flock.

The Rev Kitara is set to be installed as third bishop of the Diocese of Kitgum at All Saints Cathedral Mican, Kitgum Municipality today. Archbishop Stanley Ntagali is set to preside over the function, with President Museveni expected to grace the occasion.
“I want to tell you that even if you tell me now, ‘you see I have not been praying because of you’, if it demands me to kneel for forgiveness, I will do it and we push forward. I don’t see any problem, so we need reconciliation so that we really push forward,” he said in a recent interview.

Christians from the UK, Germany and other countries have also confirmed attendance of the function.
The preparation for the consecration and enthronement saw the diocesan church - All Saints Cathedral - get a facelift since it was built in the 1920s.

It is now looking fresh and sparkling, a move that has helped spur up a reawakening of sorts of faith among parishioners who had known nothing but acrimony in the past several years.

The Rev Kitara says it is only Godly for the Christians to forgive and reconcile with one another, however bitter their disagreement.

He said none benefits from the conflict and those who insist on walking that bitter path would be going against God and Christians who are seeking to do the right things.

The Rev Kitara takes over the mantle of the diocese that is still reeling from acrimonious split that tore apart both the clergy and the flock into two bitter rival camps.

It was such fights that saw then Bishop Benjamin Ojwang forced to resign three years shy of his tenure, prompting the province to take over the diocese.

One camp supported Bishop Ojwang, while the other led by a group calling themselves Concerned Christians, bitterly opposed him.
The feud at one time saw members of Concerned Christians lock up Bishop Ojwang in the vestry of Kitgum Town Parish Church.
The diocese premises were earlier padlocked, incidences that attracted the police to deploy at the town churches on several occasions.

The conflicts that culminated in Bishop Ojwang and his key allies dragging the Province of the Church of Uganda to court over his alleged forceful removal from office, also witnessed some Christians abandon praying from their churches - with others joining other denominations.

But the Concerned Christians pulled back from their hardline position and disbanded, leading own services several years ago and Bishop Ojwang also withdrew the court case, subsequently handing over the See to Archbishop Stanley Ntagali in December last year.

While calm has apparently now returned to the diocese under the stewardship of the archbishop through caretaker Bishop Charles Odur-Kami, some people are still skeptical whether true forgiveness and reconciliation has actually taken place.
“Christians are very excited and are supportive of changes taking place and we pray it remains so for long. But there are fears some Christians could still be harbouring bad feelings and are still playing safe to seek favour from the new bishop. But once they miss out, they could still bring trouble,” said one parishioner, who did not want to be identified.

The Rev Kitara said it was unfair to point at only one person as being responsible for the conflict that engulfed Kitgum Diocese, stressing that “everybody had a stake” in the conflict.

“Fortunately, I was in the system. That is the good part of it all… I could have been also a factor of that, one way or the other. You never know,” the bishop-elect, who served for nearly five years as diocesan secretary during the fracas, noted.
“Everybody had a stake in this. And now it is coming back to us who had a stake to push. And for the institution, I am sure we will push forward,” the Rev Kitara said.
He said his first task will be to bring all the organs and structure of the church together and sit and discuss the best way to move the diocese ahead.