Museveni hails Italian missionary Tomaino for fighting alcohol abuse

President Museveni has hailed the late Rev Fr Paolino Tomaino, an Italian missionary for fighting alcohol abuse and promoting ethics among Christians during his over 40-year missionary work in Uganda.

In a message read on his behalf by the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Mr Thomas Tayebwa, during the burial of the missionary at Kyamuhunga Catholic Parish, Bushenyi District on Thursday, Mr Museveni eulogised Fr Tomaino as a church leader who cared about the health of the flock and their families.

“Fr Tomaino settled in Kambuga, Kyamuhunga, and Rusehere, where he built many churches, including Rushere, and promoted Christian ethics and morals by speaking against alcohol and substance abuse. He will be remembered as a practical Christian leader who placed equal emphasis on both the spiritual and spiritual needs of the people,” Mr Museveni said.

The President noted that he had known Fr Tomaino as clergyman with special recognition for the importance of encouraging believers to fulfill their responsibilities as co-creators with God on earth.

During his time as a priest in Kyamuhunga Parish, Fr Tomaino preached against alcohol and discouraged Christians from planting banana varieties that are used to make alcohol according to Kyamuhunga Parish Priest, Rev Fr Archangel Ayebare.

“This is demonstrated by the numerous development projects that he pioneered. He built schools for children from poor families, like Comboni Secondary School. It is among the best schools in the country. He built several hospitals and many health centers. He also pioneered a number of developmental and uplift projects like Kyamuhunga People’s Sacco and Rushere People’s Sacco, among others.

Mr Museveni also noted that Tomaino integrated the National Resistance Movement (NRM) message of social economic transformation and poverty eradication into his Christian ministry.

The Mbarara Archdiocese Archbishop, His Grace Lambert Bainomugisha, said during the burial that Fr Tomaino was an exceptional servant who was big in his words, ambitions, and work but remained small and ordinary before God.

“Fr Tomaino was small in the footsteps of St Paul. His life teaches us what one person can do, achieve a lot, and influence many people if he or she hinges themselves on God. He was a preacher of the word of God and deed, and he preached in season and out of season,” he said.

Fr Tomaino, who came to Uganda in 1965 after he was ordained priest and assigned to serve in the Roman Catholic Church in Uganda under the Comboni missionaries. He set up missionary projects in the country and towards the end of his journey on earth, he asked to be buried at Kyamuhunga Parish, as opposed to the Catholic Church custom of burying the clergy at Nyamitanga, the headquarters of Mbarara Archdiocese.

Projects started by Fr Tomaino include primary and secondary schools like St. Mary’s Vocational School in Kyamuhunga, technical and vocational institutions, hospitals like Daniel Comboni Hospital in Bushenyi, financial institutions like Kyamuhunga People’s Sacco and Rushere Sacco, and churches in the districts of Kiruhura, Bushenyi, Kanungu, and other areas. 

He succumbed to heart failure last week in Italy last week, according to his family, and his body was repatriated back to Uganda by the government. He was 87-years-old at the time of death.