society

The Bishop and the Children in the Rain
Every night, in Gulu, the children sleep outside, for fear of being kidnapped. Archbishop Odama spent one night with them. The Pope’s appeal to the Ugandan government

by Vanessa Jullies Akello

He speaks calmly but with solemnity. He is Msgr Odama, Archbishop of Gulu. I first heard him at the Fraternity Retreat. “Always consider me one of you,” he said. This was the second time that he was telling the CL community in Uganda to invite him always to gestures because he treasures the relationship with us and our work.
Today, Msgr Odama is walking to Gulu city this time, carrying a plastic sheet and a blanket on his shoulder. His intent is to sleep out in the open with thousands of children who pass the night there everyday.
Other religious leaders of different denominations, members of the CL community, and a team from AVSI (Association of Volunteers in International Service) join him.
The LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army) rebels have, for the past 17 years, abducted more than 25,000 children and forced them to become child soldiers or sex slaves for their commanders.
When asked why he decided to go and sleep in the cold, Archbishop Odama had this to say: “As the Archbishop of the Church in Gulu, I cannot just sit in my episcopal residence while each night as darkness falls, the city fills with children, sleeping outdoors in miserable conditions, out of fear of being abducted.”

Concrete signs of solidarity
Heavy rain has been falling for hours. The following morning, Msgr Odama recounted his experience: “I barely slept, not so much as for the rain but for the rough voices lamenting, and the coughing attacks coming out of those thousands of little bodies…. This is why it is important to give concrete signs of solidarity particularly to these children, who are the victims of a war that has gone on for too many years.”
The civil war afflicting northern Uganda is transforming into a slow genocide of the Nilotic populations. Out of the 1.4 million inhabitants, 850,000 are displaced and live homeless in desperate humanitarian conditions for the lack of food and medical supplies.
In the last weeks, the conflict has escalated and extended to eastern Uganda. This has brought the number of displaced people to more than a million.

Attacks on the Catholic Church
One Friday morning, LRA rebels stormed Gulu Catholic Mission, beating and injuring an 88-year-old Catholic priest, Fr Albertini. The rebels also set ablaze three vehicles and a motorcycle, belonging to the Catholic Mission.
In the wee hours of Sunday morning of May 12th, forty-four seminarians of St Mary’s Seminary in Lacor, 25 miles west of Gulu, were abducted by the LRA rebels. Of these, three have died and 26 are still with the rebels.
On June 4th, the LRA abducted a parish priest, Fr Alex Ojera of Alito, and 16 children aged between 12 and 17. They looted the parish as well.
On the morning of June 19th, the LRA rebels attacked Adjumani Catholic Parish, abducting 15 children from Redeemer Orphanage Centre.
One after another, nine Catholic Missions underwent attacks from the LRA rebels in the past few weeks. People knew that Archbishop Odama and his colleagues of the Acholi Religious Leaders had been in touch with some rebel leaders, seeking peace, and could not believe their ears as they kept listening to reports of the attacks. But it all became clear when, on June 11th, Joseph Kony himself, leader of the LRA, was reported stating on a radio that he had ordered the attack on the Catholic Church, and the killing of all priests and beating up of the sisters.

The Pope’s message
To this, Pope John Paul II has reacted by asking the government of Uganda and the LRA rebel leaders to put down their arms and talk peace.
On July 2nd, Pope John Paul II reiterated his closeness to the local Church in Uganda, and encouraged the pastors and faithful to be strong and firm in hope. “I follow the tragic events in northern Uganda with profound sadness, and may our insistent prayer obtain hope from the Divine Mercy,” the Pope said. The Pope’s message has been received with much gladness by the suffering Christians.
On June 24th, the LRA abducted 88 girls from Lwala Catholic Girls Secondary School in eastern Uganda. Msgr Odama, in a show of solidarity and compassion, visited the displaced community there. “In the Acholi culture, when trouble visits a family, relatives and neighbors converge on that house to console the family. So I have come to be with you and also to convey the message that the people of Acholi are with you in this difficult time,” MsgrOdama said.
Gulu is 225 miles north of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda, and may be an ideal location for a chronic and particularly ignored war. But amidst its people is a man of God whose presence and witness is not only a source of hope but also of serenity in the life of the Acholi people.
We feel profoundly together with Archbishop Odama, and in a document we affirmed that his reasons are precisely the same reasons why the Fraternity of CL–supported by AVSI funds–has been present in Gulu and Kitgum throughout the 17 years of this insurgency.