Expansion among the Acholi: Gulu

Gulu was being built as the central town for Acholi land and as the new government post for northern Uganda instead of Koba. Mr. Hannington, the Commissioner who was friendly to the missionaries, left for Gulu and the government post at Koba was closed. At the end of January 1911, Fr. Giovanni FORNASA arrived at Omach after travelling across Kenya, Lake Victoria, Buganda and Bunyoro. Three weeks later, he and Fr. Colombaroli went to Gulu and on February 19^th, 1911, in extreme poverty, they started the first mission among the Acholi. Fr. Fornasa remained at Gulu, while Fr. Colombaroli went to Italy for urgently needed medical treatment and rest. Fr. Crazzolara took over at Omach. They were joined soon after by a new group of missionaries, fresh from Europe: Frs. Audisio, Beduschi, Cordone and Br Sighele. This made it possible to exchange personnel between Omach and its first daughter mission, Gulu which was growing daily and there were many people anxious to hear the word of God from the missionaries.

When they arrived in Gulu, the Missionaries were asked by the government to take over the schools for the sons of chiefs, boys who would eventually take the role of their fathers or uncles. The future chiefs had been taught by protestant, not Catholic missionaries but there were no Anglican missionaries when the Comboni missionaries arrived. Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society (CMS) had reached Gulu in 1905, i.e. before the Comboni missionaries, but they had left in 1908. Their schools were given into the care of the Comboni missionaries and they were very upset to find Catholic missionaries in their place when they returned in 1913.

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WebGeniusLab

Date:

June 12, 2020

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Charity

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Charity, Care

The Difficulties faced

The difficulties the missionaries in Gulu met with are well illustrated by records kept by them. At the end of 1913, a new Assistant District Commissioner, Mr. Postlethwaite arrived at Atura Port. He first met two Anglican ministers, Mr. Wright and Mr. Lees at Otimodere, the first village in Gulu District and he then stopped on his way to Gulu at Minakulu and Puranga to ask the village chiefs about their relationships with the Comboni missionaries. The following is what Fr. Crazzolara wrote on 27^th January 1914. “Mr. P Postlethwaite (nicknamed “Bwana Gweno” by the local people) is the new Assistant District Commissioner (ADC). I took some of our boys, pupils of the school to welcome him and sing the British National anthem which they sing fairly well. I was invited to his office a couple of days later. When I went, he told me in the presence of another official, that the chiefs are the real rulers in their villages and therefore they can withdraw as well as grant permission, they can even drive us away.

The land to apply for is “crown land” the DC can lease us this crown land for 3 rupees per month per lot. The essence of our conversation is that the mission must leave Puranga where a school was being built. While on his way to Gulu, this new ADC took the chance and placed a new chief there, a young Protestant who – evidently well directed – immediately ordered that our school buildings be moved three miles away, to Palenga. This we did on 6^th February 1914. Later on, during the afternoon instruction of our monthly retreat, Mr. Postlethwaite came to pay us a visit. Having dealt such a heavy blow, he is now very kind and on visiting the church even genuflects”.

One day the Governor General of Uganda arrived to visit Gulu and Mgr. Vignato decided to go to greet him. As he writes in his memoir: “We thought it our duty, or at least opportune, to go and visit him and pay our respects and greet him on behalf of the mission. I went with Fr Crazzolara, alas! … We returned without meeting him, we were refused permission to enter the reception tent. When we reached home I asked Fr. Crazzolara: could we have been more humiliated than this?”

In Gulu, one of the first buildings was a school, under the care of Fr. Crazzolara who had come to Gulu to learn the Acholi language. The fathers asked the White Fathers (their superior at Masindi was Italian, Fr. Gramaglia) for catechists and the work of evangelization went ahead. Two catechists of this time are buried in the cemetery at Gulu and deserve special mention for all the good they did: Iakobo Kinggang and Lazzari Baghenda.

In 1911 conflict broke out among the Lamogi. The government intervened and eventually one group surrendered reduced in number and strength by dysentery. Fr. Molinaro was informed by Chief Pere of Pabo that the local people were convinced that the dysentery was caused by a magic medicine which the missionaries had given to the soldiers to fire at the Lamogi rebels and their conclusion was: Khartoum tek! The missionaries were powerful!

The missionaries worked on and by 1912, had set up six chapels with schools attached. These were at Pa-Tuoga, consecrated to the Sacred Heart; Dogn-Fign dedicated to Mary Immaculate; Pa-Ucen dedicated to the Blessed Trinity; the fourth at Pa-Ali was under the protection of the Guardian Angels while the fifth was at Pa-Uto under the protection of St. Peter Claver and the last was still under construction. As Fr. Beduschi wrote to the Superior General in Verona, “These chapel-schools have great influence; the pupils sing what they had learnt of the prayers and catechism while they worked in the fields and shared what they learned with their families; so more and more came to know Christ. The missionaries were full of zeal; by 1913 there were more than a hundred children learning catechism but as Fr. Beducshi wrote again: “But what are a hundred? Next year we want at least a thousand!”

In 1914 World War I broke out in Europe and Gulu felt the repercussions. Fr. Crazzolara was taken to Egypt to be interned; Fr. Clemente to India. Brother Fanti was exempted through the intercession of both missionaries and government officials who marveled at the work he did. He was allowed back to Gulu to continue his ministry. But these were hard times for the missionaries; there was no kerosene for their lamps, the bread was scarce and hard. But their enthusiasm continued unabated. Aware of their needs, the superior general sent men and money to help. At the end of 1914, Fr. Giuseppe Santambrogio and Fr. Cesare Gambaretto arrived in time for Christmas, bringing money useful for paying off the debts incurred in the work done. Later Fr. Pietro Simoncello arrived from Italy. The whole of Europe was in flames and yet the offerings of the poor never dried up.

The missionaries decided they needed a bigger building to accommodate the ever growing number of Catholics. Fr. Vignato wrote: “We are not aiming to compete with the Cathedrals of Europe, but we would like all the Christians who come to pray to be under the same roof and they are many!” It was made of mud bricks and roofed with straw, but its opening was a great day of celebration. Five government officials were there and it was blessed by Fr. Laane and Fr. Bazin, two White Fathers invited for the occasion.

The Cathedral Fr. Vignato dreamed of became a reality in 1931: ST. JOSEPH’S CATHEDRAL. As the inscription reads there:

This Cathedral is a monument to the faith of the first Christians and to the skill of the Comboni Missionary Brothers.

It was started in the year 1931 and completed in 1941 the Christians made and baked 800,000 bricks at Oyitino River and the Christians and Catechumens, every Sunday after the Holy Mass carried bricks on their heads to this site.
The Cathedral was consecrated on 13^th June 1947, Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
On 24^th December 1938, while work was still in progress, the first two priests from Northern Region were ordained: Rev. Frs. John Ongom and Donasyano Bala.
The remains of Bishops Angelo Negri and Cipriano Kihangire were laid to rest in this Cathedral.
In 1984, the original roof with iron sheets was replaced by a roof of copper.
On 6^th February 1993, Pope John Paul II entered the Cathedral to adore the Holy Eucharist.
In the year 2000, the original floor was replaced.
The interior and exterior were redecorated in 2000 and 2001.

COMBONI MISSIONARY SISTERS IN GULU

The number of fathers and brothers increased and by 1918 they were working in five mission stations among different tribes in Northern Uganda. At the beginning, the men responded enthusiastically to the message of the gospel, flocking to receive instruction and be baptized but not the girls and women. The wives of Catholics who wanted to get married in church had been instructed in the faith and when these women returned to the village, they talked about this and praised the Christian religion. Gradually other women and girls started to come to the mission to ask to receive instruction and the need to have sisters became obvious. Eventually Mgr. Vignato asked the Superior General of the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Verona for sisters to work in Uganda. M. Costanza Caldara and her Council did not wait to be asked twice.

People were suspicious at first but once the sisters had learnt the language and explained their desire to share the Christian message, they not only made them welcome but loved to be with them.

The first Comboni Missionary Sisters reached Gulu in December 1918. There were five of them: Srs. Amalia Lonardi, Rosalba Girlanda, and Luigia Quaglia from Egypt and Srs. Carla Troenzi and Camilla Uberti who were in Sudan. The last two had previously worked in Egypt. The sisters met up in Khartoum, where they were joined by Fr. Antonio Vignato who had come purposely from Uganda to accompany them on their journey. They stayed a few days to buy what was needed for the journey new house and for the month-long journey ahead. Then they set out, first by boat along the Nile and then on foot. At Lul, they heard the news of the Armistice which brought the First World War to an end. After a day of rest at Rejaf while they hired porters, they began the most arduous part of the journey travelling across savannah and forest for fifteen days. On 6^th December they arrived at their destination, to a rapturous welcome from crowds of people who escorted them into the mission. They went first to the Church where they had solemn benediction and the singing of the Te Deum in thanksgiving for their safe arrival.

Sr. Carla was appointed superior of this new community. She was the oldest of the group and had already lived three years in the mission of Lul, among the Shilluk of S. Sudan. The people of that area were close kin to those of Nothern Uganda and her experience with them was a great help especially at the beginning. The sisters’ house in Gulu was simple: four walls of crude bricks, roofed with straw, a small crucifix in each room, camp beds, stools – and nothing else. Though they did not know the language, two sisters immediately began to work in the catechumenate and the nursery school, one in the kitchen and another two in the sewing room. They also began to visit the people in the villages, dispensing medicine and giving out small gifts, hoping by this to attract the girls to the catechumenate.

The people were suspicious at first but once the sisters had learnt the language and explained their desire to share the Christian message, they not only made them welcome but loved to be with them. The sisters wrote in their community diary: “The continual coming and going of the local people in and out of our house, soon wore out the floor of the workroom and the veranda”. The work of the sisters bore fruit. On the feast of the Assumption, a year after they had arrived, the first seventeen wives of Catholics instructed by the sisters, received Baptism, so forming seventeen Catholic families.

The missionaries began to print the first books in Acholi: a basic grammar, reading books using local fables, a prayer book written by Fr. Crazzolara and the Sacred History of the Old and New Testaments, put together by Fr. Cordone and printed with the help of the Sodality of St. Peter Claver.

The mission was growing and this was reflected in the fact that a procurator Fr. Attilio Consolaro was assigned to Gulu when after the Chapter of 1919, Fr. Vignato was called to become Vicar General in Verona and Fr. Paolo Silvestri was sent to replace him as superior of the mission with residence at Gulu.

CATECHISTS

Early in 1913, Fr. G Beduschil started a formal school for catechists and this was continued by Fr .Fornasi. When Bishop Geyer visited the Comboni Missionaries in Uganda, he was particularly appreciative of what had been done for and by the catechists..

In 1919 a secondary school which would develop into training catechists and teachers was founded by Fr. Pietro Audisio. It became one of the best in the area much appreciated by the local people who could then enter government positions. . The plan of Fr. Audisio was to prepare full-time catechists as leaders to other catechists, capable to lead the Sunday service where the priest was not available. The subjects taught at the school, were: Holy Scripture, moral, the beginnings of the Church History, grammar, arithmetic and Kiswahili. Another aim was to form catechists for Adult Catechesis. Side by side, the technical school grew. The brothers, especially Bro. Simone Fanti dedicated their days to teaching carpentry, mechanics, brick building and fabbro? In his report to Propaganda Fide in 1919, Mgr. Stoppani, Vicar Apostolic of Bahr el Ghazel, was happy to write that the institution of catechists had been understood and promoted in almost all the missions.

The witchdoctors blamed the presence of the white men for many adversities in their territory. It was not easy to be a catechist in such an atmosphere of suspicion. This was shown when two catechists Daudi Okello and Jildo Irwa were killed in the far East of the District at Paimol in October 1918.

In 1922, the first Congress of Catechists of Northern Uganda was held in Gulu, a major event for the Christians in the area and its success was mainly due to the faith and enthusiasm of Martino Musoke from Gulu, of Aleni from Moyo and Jakubo Kinyang from Kitgum.

The dedication and fidelity of the catechists reached the level of martyrdom in Daudi Okello and Gildo Irwa among the Acholi. They had been baptised in 1917 and volunteered to go to preach the gospel in the east of east Acholi, near Karamoja. They were warned that the place was dangerous, lawless because of the presence of Adui (Acholi who rebelled against the Protectorate Government, Abas (Islamic fundamentalists) and witchdoctors suspicious of the new Christian religion. They were killed on 17^th October 1918 in Paimol giving witness to their faith in Jesus Christ by giving their lives to defend his name, just as the martyrs in the south had done years before. The sacrifice of these two for their Christian beliefs has now been recognised by the Catholic Church in which they are venerated as martyrs and have now been proclaimed saints.

In 1986, another time of great insecurity in Uganda, sixty two catechists were killed for staying with their people. Every diocese in northern Uganda now has a centre for training catechists.
In 1922, the government introduced the growing of cotton; roads were improved to Lake Victoria and to Atyak from Gulu and plants for its collection and processing.
In 1923, the area in north Uganda and South Sudan was detached from the Vicar Apostolic of Bahr el Ghazal and became the Apostolic Prefecture of the Equatorial Nile with Mgr. Antonio Vignato as Apostolic Prefect. He took up residence at Gulu on 19^th June 1924.
The missionaries, always attentive to the wish of Comboni to “Save Africa with Africa”, in 1925 sent five aspirants to the priesthood to Jinja, the Mill Hill seminary: two from Kitgum, two from Gulu and one from Moyo.
The first missionaries had come on foot or on donkeys, bicycles arrived in 1912, in 1921 the first motor bike and in 1925 the first car!
Gulu soon became a “mother”. In 1927 the Congregation of Propaganda Fide in the Vatican, detached Sudan, electing a new Apostolic Prefect in Mgr. Giuseppe Zambonardi with Mgr. Pietro Simoncello with the same charge in Uganda. Soon after, in December 1929 the whole District of Karamoja was given to the Apostolic Prefecture of the Equatorial Nile as well as two thirds of the district of Lango. It had been in the care of the Mill Hill Fathers who found it difficult because of lack of personnel.

The work of the mission continued expanding. Chapels were built, catechists trained to staff them and primary schools erected in the most important places. The missionaries built a junior school on the hill near the mission. After much discussion it was decided to invite the “Brothers of the Sacred Heart” of the American Province though their Mother House was in Spain, to come to take over this school. They accepted and in 1932 the first five: Brothers Norbert, Louis, Colman, Camillus and Oswin arrived and the school was given the name St. Aloysius College. Because of the pressing need for teachers in the village schools, Teachers’ Training Schools (Vernacular) had been offering a two year course after the first classes. The one in Gulu had been reorganized by the Verona Fathers in 1928 with students coming from all over the North to attend. The Sacred Heart Brothers took charge of this too and transferred it to Lira. To ensure a certain standard of intake for this training, students had first to follow a course at intermediate level. Thus an intermediate school was begun by the Verona Fathers in Arua, so that students from West Nile could be more easily able to join the training in Lira.

The seminary, Cathedral, Boys Primary School, the catechumenate with its dormitories, all grew on the higher ground, since the original site had been found unhealthy, infected with Sleeping Sickness.
In 1934 the “Normal” School was opened for Girls and in 1935, the Girls Catechumenate. The sisters moved into their new house in that year too.
On 10^th December 1934 the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide crowned the work of the missionaries by elevating the Prefecture to Vicariate. Mgr. Angelo Negri became the first Vicar Apostolic on 25^th August 1935 with residence at Gulu.

THE LITTLE SISTERS OF MARY IMMACULATE OF GULU

The first girls who expressed a desire to be religious sisters were also pupils of the mission school in Gulu and they came from different missions in the Prefecture: Moyo, Arua, La (o)donga, Angal and Gulu. When they told the Apostolic Prefect, Mgr. Vignato of their desire to be religious he encouraged them to continue their education in Gulu in the Teachers’ Training College under the direction of Sr. Angioletta Dognini. She became the co-foundress of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate of Gulu with Bishop Angelo Negri.