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The Visit of Msgr Cordes

The trip to Uganda made by the Pope’s “Minister of Charity.” The Cor Unum project with AVSI and esteem for the work of the Movement

By Filippo Cavazza

The recent visit to Uganda, from October 25th to 30th, made by Msgr Cordes, President of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum, the Pope’s “Minister of Charity,” was not a formal one, with the sort of speeches required by the occasion and vague promises to continue working together.

“Show God’s love to the people.” These words were the focus of Msgr Cordes’ homily at Mass in the convent of the Sisters of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, which was the first stop on his African itinerary. Wrapped in their white and blue saris, the sisters–following the example of their foundress–testify every day, in their home for abandoned and orphaned children in Kampala, to the good face of the Mystery. Now, thanks to the Cor Unum project, they can extend their work to the terminally ill.

One billion lire
How did the Cor Unum project get started? In 2000, for the Jubilee, the City of Milan gave the Holy Father one billion lire–half a million dollars. The funds were turned over to Cor Unum, which committed to using them in Uganda. A crucial factor in Cordes’ decision in this regard was the close relationship with the Archbishop of Kampala, Cardinal Wamala, and with Alberto Piatti, General Director of AVSI (both of whom are members of the Pontifical Council Cor Unum).

AVSI was put in charge of coordinating the project. It is a broad-ranging plan, which, besides the Sisters of Mother Teresa, includes also the vocational training schools of COWA (Companionship of Works Association) and the work done by Meeting Point International in the slums of Kampala.

Cordes was given the opportunity to visit all these activities and to appreciate their liveliness and concreteness. He tasted the dishes prepared by the girls in the catering course at the Centenary School and met the young carpenters’, stonemasons’, and welders’ apprentices at the Vocational Training Center. All of them have the opportunity to learn a trade (in a country where skilled labor is practically non-existent!) and to receive a Christian education that values their humanity.

Touching humanity
Cordes also visited the Naguru Remand Home and the Acholi Quarter slum. These were encounters with a raw, apparently desperate and God-forsaken reality, but where, instead, a touching humanity springs forth.

Acholi Quarter rises on the immediate outskirts of the capital of Uganda, right next to a stone quarry. It is an agglomeration of tin-roofed mud huts, built as best they could by the thousands of Acholi who fled here to escape the cruel war that is bloodying the districts of the North. These people work all day in the quarry under the blazing sun for a handful of shillings (the local currency). Many of them are suffering from AIDS and very few children go to school. For most of these children, the only chance to study is given by the commitment of AVSI and of Meeting Point. Also thanks to AVSI and Meeting Point, with the Cor Unum program the opportunity was opened to many women in the quarter to obtain a small line of credit to set up an income-generating activity. They all felt–perhaps for the first time in their lives–loved and treated like human beings.

Cordes responded to their welcome with wonder: “I see joyous and happy faces, despite the poverty and suffering you have to endure. These are faces that know God has not abandoned you and loves you.” He used similar words also during his visit to Gulu and the nearby Pabbo refugee camp (more than 40,000 people). He could not fail to support the peace initiatives led by Archbishop Odama of Gulu. He exhorted everyone not to lose hope and to have the same faith as Jildo and Daudi, the two Acholi catechists beatified as martyrs last October 20th (see Traces, Vol 4, No 10).

Friendship with the Movement
In Uganda, Cordes found an atmosphere of familiarity. He paused for an aperitif with the AVSI volunteers and to greet their families. And speaking at the Centenary School, he took everyone by surprise with his words of sincere friendship: “When I arrived in Rome in 1980, I did not understand why there was difficulty within the Church in accepting the Movement of Communion and Liberation. Little by little, I discovered the charism of CL and began to have valid reasons to sustain the reality of the Movement within the Church with all my strength. When I encountered the Movement of CL, I saw a strong connection with society. I had the opportunity to experience the fact that CL is not only a spiritual movement, but has the power to change society, in the Christian sense of this change. These two things seem very important to me: to assist not only the transcendental dimension (faith) but also the horizontal dimension (works). So this is why you are not the ones who should thank me, but I have to thank you, on the Holy Father’s behalf, for the work you do!”