The 50km trek to honour St Adolf Tibeyalirwa at Katoosa

After two years without making pilgrimage to Katoosa religious shrine in Kyenjojo District, this year Fort Portal Catholic Diocese allowed pilgrims to again start making pilgrimage to the Holy shrine.

The annual pilgrimage is celebrated every January 27 in honour of St Adolf Tibeyalirwa who was born in Myeli Village a few kilometres away from Katoosa.

As was the norm for the Church for one to take part in the pilgrimage, one of the requirements was to prepare early enough spiritually and physically to trek 53 kilometres.

Set-off
Unlike previous years where the set off point was Virika Cathedral, this year the diocese of Fort Portal selected Bukwali Parish located a few kilometres from the outskirts of Fort Portal City.

My one-day journey started in the company of thousands of other pilgrims at 7pm on January 24, from Bukwali Parish and others from other parishes of Fort Portal and Kasese dioceses.

Fr Moses Mutagirizi, the parish priest of Bukwali flanked by Kabarole District chairman, Richard Rwabuhinga flagged off the pilgrims after celebrating Holy Mass.

I started my plan to make a pilgrimage to Katoosa immediately after returning from Namugongo in June last year because I believe there are many spiritual gains from making pilgrimages. I do not want to miss any pilgrimage.

 As a member of the Uganda Martyrs Guild Movement (Abakaiso), we met to make a pre-pilgrimage novena every day at 3pm at St Charles Lwanga Church for nine days.

To set off, I had to pack one pair of walking shoes, a hat, sports trousers and a wrapper (leesu) to  keep me warm and upkeep money.

Stopovers

We arrived at Kaswa, our first stopover after two hours (about 10 kilometres) in Kaswa before Kibaale National Park to freshen up.

It is much better to walk in the night than during day because of the cool breeze and the road traffic distraction is minimal. To stay awake, we had to chant praise songs about the Uganda Martyrs as well as recite the rosary.

Our next stopover was in Kagorogoro near Rugombe Trading Centre, but the majority of the pilgrims never rested here. They opted to continue arrived at 5.49am at Katoosa religious shrine.

Arrival
At that time hundreds of other pilgrims from Hoima, Mityana and other places who had arrived on the previous two days. They were in praise and worship while others were resting.

Then, we spent two days interceding through the Uganda Martyrs. After every 10 minutes, truckfuls and taxis of pilgrims continued to arrive. For every arrival, pilgrims went to prostrate, stand at a religious shrine where there are 22 rocks with inscription of Uganda Martyrs.

Unlike Namugongo, here energetic pilgrims climb to rock peaks to pray but the style of prayer varies. Some recite the rosary, others come with written petitions which they leave in the rock crevices.

During the day, pilgrims organise themselves in different praise worship teams to praise the Lord while others take shelter in the rocks while praying until evening.

The rocks lean on one another but for safety, Xaverians patrol the area to avoid any criminals at bay.
For safety of my luggage, I carried my bag around and at night slept on a small tarpaulin and covered myself with a leesu on Katoosa playground.

Meals
The three days at Katoosa, various catering service providers had hired the venue to supply food despite the slightly higher than normal prices. These operated day and night.

My first time eating was at 5am after reaching Kyenjojo Town, I bought two chapatis, a bottle of soda and mineral water which served for breakfast and lunch.

Turning into pilgrim centre
Fr John Tumuhairwe, the chancellor of Fort Portal Diocese, said the idea of the shrine was initiated by Bishop Vincent Joseph McCauley CSC, the first bishop of Fort Portal Catholic Diocese in 1964.

Bishop McCauley asked the faithful to support the work and to start making local pilgrimages to the holy place every year to celebrate the victory of the Uganda Martyrs and seek their intercession.

On January 22, 1984, Katoosa Parish was opened as an independent parish after being carved out of Butiiti Parish and this was during the reign of Bishop Serapio B. Magambo (RIP) who installed Fr Fortunate Kasangaki (RIP) as its first parish priest and Msgr Kaijanabyo as curate.

Msgr Kaijanabyo, who worked in Katoosa from 1983 to 1994, facilitated paintings on the rocks assisted by Leo Baryabuuza (then, a seminarian).

After the canonisation of Uganda Martyrs, Christians started making pilgrimage to Namugongo every June 3, those Christians who could not make it to Namugongo opted for Katoosa on the same day.  

However, the late Bishop Paul L. Kalanda instituted every November 15, as diocesan day of pilgrimage to Katoosa.

Tip...
When Bishop Robert K. Muhiirwa became Bishop of Fort Portal Diocese on June 15, 2003, he changed the diocesan day of pilgrimage to Katoosa Shrine January 27, due to weather conditions where the celebrations would be disturbed by rains.

Henceforth, thousands of Christians from all the parishes of Fort Portal Diocese and outside make pilgrimage to Katoosa.