UGANDA: Pope Francis Appoints Archbishop Luigi Bianco Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda
Most Rev. Luigi Bianco, Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda with H.E. John Cardinal Njue, Nairobi Kenya, and H.E. Joseph W. Cardinal Tobin, Newark, New Jersey, USA, during AMECEA 19th Plenary Assemby in Ethopia
Most Rev. Luigi Bianco, the then Apostolic Nuncio to Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia told AMECEA Bishops and indeed all the delegates to AMECEA 19th Plenary Assembly that God who has chosen each one of us impels us to constantly engage in self-renewal, to pass beyond what is familiar, to the fringes and beyond. This he said during the Plenary’s Opening ceremony in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Sunday 15, July 2018.
A Year later in July 2019, Archbishop Bianco will be joining a much bigger delegation when Bishops from practically all Africa and Madagascar, together with delegates from all over the world, will be congregating in Kampala, Uganda, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).
On Monday, February 4, the Holy Father Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Bianco as new Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda, taking over from Most Rev. Michael August Blume SVD, who was appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Hungary on 4th July, 2018.
Archbishop Bianco encouraged the AMECEA 19th Plenary Assembly delegates that God takes us to where humanity is most wounded, where men and women, beneath the appearance of a shallow conformity, continue to seek an answer to the questions of life’s meaning.
“ If we dare go to the fringes, we will find Him there in the hearts of our brothers and sisters, in their wounded flesh, in their troubles and in their profound desolation,” said the papal ambassador.
He is a priest from Casale Monferrato, Italy. In his diplomatic service, Archbishop Bianco has indeed gone to the fringes following his appointment on 12th July, 2014 as an Apostolic Nuncio to Ethiopia, one of AMECEA Countries where the Catholic Population is approximately 1% of the country’s total population.
It did not end there as two months later, he was appointments to serve concurrently as an Apostolic Nuncio to Djibouti and as Apostolic Delegate to Somalia on 10th September, 2014.
Djibouti and Somalia are Affiliate Member Conferences of AMECEA. In both cases, their situation isn’t much easier than Ethiopia.
Djibouti is a Muslim dominated country and has Catholic population of more or less 6% comprising mainly of expatriates in the country, some migrants and a handful of residents.
Somalia, on the other hand, has a non-existing Church structure since the assassination of Mogadishu’s Archbishop Pietro Salvatore Colombo OFM on 9th July, 1989 at the Cathedral of Mogadishu and the subsequent civil war which destroyed everything towards the end of 1990.
the Holy Father, Pope Francis During AMECEA 19th
Plenary Assembly in Ethiopia
The Bishop of Djibouti is the Apostolic Administrator of Mogadishu Archdiocese, which covers the whole country where the Catholic Population is negligible and Christian persecution is the order of the day.
According to the Rev. Fr. Paul Mung’athia Igweta, Coordinator of AMECEA Department for Promotion of Integral Human Development, the newly Appointed Nuncio to Uganda Archbishop Bianco has lived the experience of his own message through serving Djibouti and Somalia where Christians are an oppressed minority.
“In Somalia for instance, the Church is very much persecuted such that the few remaining faithful cannot even dare to exercise their faith in public, lest they face execution. Archbishop Bianco perfectly understands the call of God to the fringes and beyond to serve God’s people. Therefore, his message at the 19th AMECEA Plenary Assembly translates to encouragement especially to those who work in hardship areas, especially in Africa,” Fr. Igweta explained.
“The Church is missionary in nature, meaning that the servants can be called to serve in any environment both welcoming and hostile. It is therefore important to yield to the call and find God in the places we are called to serve, no matter what the situation is,” Fr. Igweta elaborated adding that Uganda is fairly good to Christianity and Catholicism and will give the new Nuncio opportunity to experience something different in his service as an Apostolic Nuncio.
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By Pamela Adinda, AMECEA Online News
