Pope Theodoros hails Archbishop Jonah Lwanga

Pope Theodoros II of the Orthodox Church of All Africa yesterday praised deceased Metropolitan Archbishop of Kampala Jonah Lwanga for his service to the Church and the country.

The Pope and Patriarch of All Africa is on a visit to Uganda to commemorate 40 days after Lwanga’s death on September 5 in Athens, Greece.

Speaking in Latin with a Luganda translator, the Patriarch said it was both joy and sadness that he visited Uganda.
“The joy is that I am here in Uganda and pay respects for this church leader (whom) during life I named him a fighter because even in his old age, he remained committed,” Pope Theodoros said.

He said Lwanga’s powerful face and work will be remembered.
“It’s blessing that I worked with him,” the Pope said.

In his message read on Lwanga’ burial, Pope Theodoros  said the archbishop’s demise was devastating.
 “The soil of Uganda which gave birth to him, he regenerated in the spiritual pool of Orthodoxy spreading from one end to another the truth of the gospel as a tireless worker of the Lord’s Vineyard,” Pope Theodoros said in a statement.

Lwanga who died of cancer at 76 was granted a state burial on September 20.  
Yesterday, Pope Theodoros led a brief service outside St Nicholas Cathedral in Namungoona where Archbishop Lwanga was buried. He knelt and kissed the black marble slab on the grave over which lies a wooden cross.

Despite the heavy downpour, the Patriarch endured it until the end of his programmed rituals. 

In Latin, the Patriarch prayed for the second time after brief prayers in the church for an eternal rest of his God’s servant soul.

Behind St Nicholas Cathedral also lies the remains of the first archbishop,  Theodoros  Nankyama.

''There also lived a man, (first Archbishop Theodros) Nankyama who we lost. And all his time he was a peaceful person,” Pope Theodoros said.

The Patriarch said he will continue to pray for the Ugandan Orthodox community calling on the leaders who are serving the church to keep the faith and the spirit left behind by Lwanga and Nankyama.

“Today I am amidst you to feel the presence of your father. On Sunday, many archbishops (from Africa) will be here and we will remember the works of your late father Lwanga, we come and serve and go back to our home,” the Pope said.

He saluted the caretaker Makarios, who since the death of Lwanga has been at the helm of the church, and will be until a new archbishop will be named by the synod.

Pope Theodoros thanked President Museveni for a warm welcome, saying it symbolised how the he respects religion.