Church seeks Shs980m for Ambrosoli’s beatification

Gulu Archdiocese is struggling to raise Shs980m budget needed for the beatification of Fr Dr Joseph Ambrosoli scheduled for Sunday, November 20, Monitor has learnt.

By yesterday, the archdiocese had secured less than Shs35m, according to the organising committee’s social media handles.

READ: Gulu gears up for Fr Ambrosoli beatification

On Monday, Archbishop John Baptist Odama, the Gulu Archdiocese head, held five fundraising drives across Gulu City in the haste of meeting the required budget.

Archbishop Odama kicked off the morning with the first fundraiser at Holy Rosary Parish compound before preceding to Christ the King Primary Teachers College and St Mary’s Hospital Lacor. In the afternoon, he met with the Gulu City security committee at the Resident City Commissioner’s (RCC) office before meeting the city council leaders at the mayor’s office.

Archbishop Odama also held a separate meeting with Gulu market vendors at Gulu Main Market and later with the Gulu District authorities at the Council Hall. 

At each of these meetings, Archbishop Odama reminded his audience that the archdiocese had a few days before the event and that it needed the money to support the ceremony after a delay by President Museveni to fulfil a Shs1.3b pledge made mid-year. 

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At the RCC’s office, Odama told the RCC Ms Jane Fances Okili that President Museveni promised the archdiocese Shs1.3 billion and that had not yet been availed a few days before the ceremony.

“We met and I told him [President Museveni] the budget and he said it was easy to clear that. He asked us to make it more than a billion before he pledged Shs1.3b,” Archbishop Odama told Ms Okili.

However, Ms Okili said: “We are sorry it did not work out the way it should have been. I did not know that the President had pledged but I will speak to the principal private secretary and remind him now because the money might be somewhere along the way.”

Mr Isaiah Tumwesigye, the Gulu City town clerk, said they were yet to hold an emergency in-house meeting to see how they would support the ceremony. 

“This was so abrupt and we did not have much time to mobilise resources. The mayor will announce the contribution of Gulu City to you,” Mr Tumwesigye said. 

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The Gulu Archdiocese Vicar General, Msgr Mathew Odong, said several fundraising drives were being held by the church but declined to disclose the exact amount that had been raised. 

“On the issue of the budget, I will talk about it later not now. Today, we are for the pilgrimage,” Msgr Odong said.

Background

Pope Francis concessioned the archdiocese to conduct the beatification of Fr Ambrosoli on November 20, 2022, with close to a million people expected to participate in the event.

Dr Ambrosoli came to Uganda in February 1956. 

While in Gulu, he moved to Kalongo and founded Kalongo (Dr Ambrosoli Memorial), a hospital that gained a reputation for excellence for almost 31 years, until 1987 when he died.

He was a Roman Catholic priest and a member of the Comboni Missionaries. 

He was born in 1923 in Ronago, a small town in the Province of Como, Italy.
He is best known as a doctor, surgeon, philanthropist, and educator.

He was famed as the “saint doctor” or “great doctor” for being compassionate to his patients.
Pieces of his remains (bones) will be placed and kept at Kalongo Catholic Parish for unveiling on November 20, 2022, during the beatification exercise.

The remains were brought back to the archdiocese early this year from the Vatican, in Italy.