Religion

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

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Last semester, as we sat for our first exam, a classmate who had been experiencing episodes of depression couldn’t sit for his papers. We had prayed and hoped for his return. He didn’t make it back. Focused on this sad moment, we forgot about another student who was missing. I vividly remember the cloud of sadness that descended upon the exam room when we eventually noticed. How could we not have seen this earlier? We had forgotten about someone struggling just as much. This student, burdened with a considerable debt and having collected some money, had lost hope and switched his phone off. He was later found in his hostel, simply sleeping through the exam period, possibly praying, hurting, or trying to self-soothe. These are but some of the numerous hard times we find ourselves going through.

Njangali was ordained as the first female deacon in East Africa on September 10, 1973. This outraged a number of lay people and priests who believed it not biblical to ordain a woman. Although she was never fully priested, her ordination broke the ecclesiastical glass ceiling, paving the way for future generations of women in ministry, and in 1983, Bishop Festo Kivengere of Kigezi ordained three women as priests.

Schools like Uganda Christian University (UCU) provide a platform for students to develop a religious identity, with the view that such a move will enable them to deepen the understanding of their faith. Such schools often also offer an environment that allows the cultivation of a sense of belonging among students. Pauline Luba recently talked to UCU students to better understand how the university has helped them develop their faith.

The Church of Uganda is celebrating two milestones. The double commemoration is about East Busoga, Uganda’s newest diocese, which was inaugurated on November 19, 2023, and, the same event, the consecration of Rt. Rev. Paul Hannington Suubi and his enthronment as its first bishop. East Busoga became the country’s 39th diocese of the Anglican Church after approval by the provincial assembly in August 2022. 

What would you do about a son who turns down a job offer after graduating with a veterinary medicine degree, preferring to return to school to become a priest? In 1986, that was the dilemma of the father of Edison Kalengyo. His son, now the Rev. Can Prof. Kalengyo, had just completed a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine, a four-year course, at Uganda’s Makerere University. Kalengyo had even received an appointment letter, dated June 20, 1986, from the Ministry of Animal Industry and Fisheries.

On October 11, 2023, former Archbishop of the Anglican Church of Uganda, the Rt. Rev. Henry Luke Orombi celebrated his 74th birthday. To mark this day, Orombi cut a specially made, three-tiered cake at the Uganda Christian University’s Nkoyoyo Hall, a structure named after his predecessor in the Church of Uganda leadership, Archbishop Mpalanyi Nkoyoyo.

If you meet Esther Irene Nantambi on the Uganda Christian University (UCU) main campus, she will most likely be in “kitten” (thin) heels or sneakers. Her unspoken love for creativity reveals itself as she leisurely strolls through stalls during exhibitions by the School of Journalism, Media and Communication or art and design. Her face displays a hint of makeup.  Her demeanor is friendly.