UGANDA: Prelate Describes the Comboni Missionary Set for Beatification, “a Man for All and for All Seasons”
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
As the Church in Uganda looks forwards to the beatification of Fr. Giuseppe Joseph Ambrosoli on the Solemnity of Christ the King on Sunday, November 20, the Servant of God has been described as a man of the people, following his dedication as a medical practitioner who served the poor suffering from leprosy during his missionary work in Uganda.
Sharing with AMECEA Online few weeks to the day of beatification of the Italian cleric and a member of the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), Bishop Joseph Anthony Zziwa notes that Fr. Ambrosoli has been appreciated by the people who saw him during his life time as “a man for all and for all seasons, full of love, and dedicated his life fully to serve as he lightened the hearts of the suffering.”
When the priest went to Uganda in 1957 and served in today’s Archdiocese of Gulu at a place called Kalong, Bishop Zziwa the President of the Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) said, “He started in a small way caring for people both spiritually and physically as a medic.”
“Since there was an outbreak of leprosy in the area Fr. Ambrosoli took good care of the lepers, he encouraged them not to be stigmatized and tried so that they are accepted by others,” the Local Ordinary of Kiyinda-Mityana Diocese narrated adding that the cleric showed a lot of care to the sick and eventually developed the small health centre in Northern Uganda called Kalong into a hospital.
Bishop Zziwa acknowledged that the priest to be beatified, balanced his priestly life and medical profession very well without compromising one against the other and “had good community living with fellow missionaries as he was very much among the people.”
In his description about the Italian cleric who served in Kalong for years, the Bishop highlights that Fr. Ambrosoli was a man of prayer and never abandon his religious commitment amidst the services he offered.
“He left a legacy among the people in Gulu and the different groups of people talk very well of him. We learn a lot from him and together with the other Uganda Martyrs, they have strengthened our faith and are examples whom we can emulate to help us grow in Faith,” the Bishops expressed.
The Prelate shares with AMECEA online that the people in Uganda are overjoyed as the beatification is “a special blessing for the country and a model both for the young and the old as we already have 22 Uganda martyrs who were killed between 1885-1887 in Uganda and beatified and canonized in Rome, and later we had two martyrs Daudi Okello and Jildo Irwa, Catechists from Gulu who interacted with the people died just a natural.”
He further noted that the younger brother of the servant of God called Alexandro Ambrosoli who is still alive, and the niece, “speaks very well of the priest and they are very happy as a family to have a saint.”
As Christians prepare for this upcoming event to be held in Kalong, the Archdiocese of Gulu takes lead in the preparations of beatification, working in collaboration with Comboni Missionaries and the Episcopal Conference of Uganda.
Besides, recitation of the Rosary and Adoration services are being conducted in parishes within Gulu Archdiocese as a way to spiritually prepare the Christians and the entire ecclesiastical Province.
Ambrosoli was born in 1923 in the Province of Como, Italy. He went to Uganda in 1956 where he served in the hospital until his death in 1987.
The relics of Fr. Ambrosoli was taken to Uganda from Italy on Thursday, July, 7 this year.
