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Uganda: Archbishop warns of polygamy, other traditional practices

The president of the Uganda Bishops' Conference has called the lure of indigenous beliefs one of the “major challenges” facing the Church in that nation, reports CISA.

Archbishop Matthias Ssekamanya of Lugazi said this during his ad limina visit in Rome.

“Not all the faithful have completely assimilated the Gospel. This is because the traditional cultures are still very strong. Some of these are incompatible with the Gospel, such as polygamy and certain ancestral religious beliefs,” said Archbishop Ssekamanya.

“Other challenges include the sects, which have significant financial resources and have a strong appeal to young people and people living in modest conditions,” he added, According to CWN.

“We do not know where all this money comes from, but we know that these sects have large quantities available to them. We also know that most of the sects present in Uganda come from North America and Europe.”

Archbishop Ssekamanya also discussed the devastation wrought by the Lord’s Resistance Army. The archbishop said, “The biggest problem is the fact that we have millions of people who have been living 20 years in refugee camps. We need assistance to rebuild homes and to allow people to resume farming.”

Uganda has a population of 28.3 million of which 44 percent are Catholic.

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TAGS: Uganda Archbishop Matthias Ssekamanya polygamy Lord’s Resistance Army refugee camps

[03/09/2010]

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