AMECEA: Bakanja College: A Beacon of the Church’s Universality
Rev. Fr. Patrick Nyongesa, immediate former Rector at Blessed Bakanja AMECEA College is convinced that the universality of the Church is more realized at the institution because the seminarians at Bakanja have the opportunity to live, and integrate with people from different parts of the continent.
According to Fr. Nyongesa, the composition of students from different nationalities and cultural backgrounds enriches the seminarians as they get to learn from one another; from one culture to the other; bringing together a more or less a universal culture
“The seminarians also get to demystify fears born out of preconceptions and stereotyping of people from certain ethnic groups, thus enabling the seminarians to develop within them a positive attitude towards people from such countries, where they had preconceived, biased opinion. This is where the whole AMECEA meets,” Fr. Nyongesa said.
AMECEA Secretary General and Rev. Fr. Peter Moudie,
Rector Bakanja College
Fr. Nyongesa explained that although Bakanja seminarians are mainly students at Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), they also have access to Tangaza University College Staff and Library. And apart from attending lessons from the Faculty of Theology, Bakanja seminarians have the opportunity to take elective units from other non-theological areas such as Computer Science, Social and Economic Developments subjects that are taught in CUEA.
“These non-theological courses are also helpful in the ministry of priesthood for instance, finance administration, statistics and the like – such courses are not given in the curriculum of the National seminaries in the region,” he explained adding that Bakanja seminarians are usually encouraged to widen their knowledge so that apart from Theology, they can also grow in other secular subjects which will be helpful to them when they are ordained in the ministry.
“Some of the students at Bakanja have ended up doing Master’s Degree in Theology, something that cannot be found at the National seminaries. Others have done Canon Law which is offered at CUEA while they are studying as seminarians.”
Indeed, Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Opio from the Diocese of Lira-Uganda, is a former seminarian at Bakanja College, ordained a priest in August 2018. Immediately he finished his Bachelor’s Degree last year he enrolled for Masters in Canon Law, and is currently in his second year while still residing at Bakanja College.
“I would say that a person who studies at Bakanja is more holistically formed. Take any seminarian from here who is eventually ordained priest and put him into a position of responsibility, he will be in a better position to handle Finances, the theological issues, as well as himself. This is because we have not locked our seminarians into a bottle; rather, we allow our seminarians to start making responsible decisions as they grow into the Ministry so much that they are able to handle themselves positively and responsibly. Based on this. I would strongly recommend to any Bishop in AMECEA region to consider bringing his seminarians here,” Fr. Nyongesa expressed.
Currently the institution has 35 students: they are from Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Djibouti and South Africa.
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
