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Connecting Wisconsin-Uganda Catholics

Oct. 22 is Mission Sunday

By Linda DeVries
Compass Correspondent

	YOUTH EVENT: Fr. Celestine Byekwaso leads a youth activity in his home diocese in southern Uganda. Fr. Byekwaso is serving at St. Mary Parish, Hilbert, St. John-Sacred Heart Parish, Sherwood, and St. Mary of the Seven Dolors, Stockbridge. (Submitted photo)

HILBERT -- When Fr. Celestine Byekwaso looks around northeast Wisconsin he sees little that reminds him of his native Uganda.

The terrain is different - both geographically and the way people live. Fr. Byekwaso finds himself in a land of plenty after coming from a land where the needs are plenty - for education, potable water, electricity, sanitation, and for someone to care for countless numbers of orphaned children.

Despite the differences, Fr. Byekwaso is working to build connections between the Green Bay Diocese and his home diocese in the east-central African country of Uganda from his base at St. Mary Parish, Hilbert. He also serves the Diocese of Green Bay at St. John-Sacred Heart Parish, Sherwood, and St. Mary of the Seven Dolors, Stockbridge.

Fr. Byekwaso came to the United States three years ago to study for a master's in liturgical studies at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill. After Fr. Byekwaso completed his degree, his bishop asked him to work in the Green Bay Diocese, seeking friends and donors to help his home diocese.

The nine-year-old Diocese of Kasana-Luweero in southern Uganda is the youngest in the country, Fr. Byekwaso said. "It is a geographically poor area with low rainfall, a lack of running water, and poor sanitation. Most people depend on subsistence farming, producing only enough for home consumption - only if there is enough rain.

"It's not like the United States," he said. "Here, people depend on stores to provide food, but there each family depends on their plot of land or they suffer hunger. Here, people take running water for granted. Back home you can find whole villages without running water. Here, electricity is available everywhere; there, most families have no electrical power; they depend on lanterns for light. Here, there is a developed infrastructure, good roads and so on. Where I'm from, the rainy season makes many roads impassable."

Fr. Byekwaso also points to a lack of medical services and clean water in his home diocese, where numerous children have been orphaned as a result of civil war and/or HIV/AIDS.

He said the main challenges facing the church in Uganda are:

• providing good sanitation and clean water;

• educating children so they can at least read and write;

• providing affordable health services, especially for women and children;

• improving the standard of living.

"The average per capita income is about $240 per year," Fr. Byekwaso said. Education is expensive - averaging $300 a year - whether in state, private, or Catholic schools, he said. "They all require uniforms and tuition, and almost all the (English-language) textbooks are imported."

English is the official language of Uganda, although many people also speak their native languages.

Fr. Byekwaso was born in 1955 and is the tenth child in his family. He is the only one of seven brothers still living. Since his ordination in 1982 he has taught in seminaries, served three parishes and taken graduate classes in spirituality and liturgy.

Fr. Byekwaso's parents and grandparents were Catholic - the largest religion in Uganda at more than 45% of the population. Protestantism is second at 39%, followed by Islam at 5%, with animists and other religions making up the rest.

"The growing church needs missionaries," Fr. Byekwaso said. "Many young boys and girls offer themselves to train for serving the church, but most can't afford the tuition."

As a result, about half the 126 seminarians depend on the diocese to fund their education, he said. "One challenge we have is to look for means and ways to educate these children. Then, even if they drop out of seminary, they are good laypeople to serve the church in other capacities.

"Collections [such as the Mission Sunday appeal] are very helpful in many ways," Fr. Byekwaso said. "If someone gives a free donation, the diocese decides where to use the money to help the people. Others give with a specific intention, perhaps to train a seminarian or to help with medical and sanitation concerns. Every donation is highly valuable and greatly appreciated. The money is given directly to a school to benefit a child or directly to a seminary to support a seminarian, etc."

Fr. Byekwaso sees his role as speaking out about the needs of his home diocese and asking for assistance.

"Because pursuing my own education was not easy," he said, "one of my ambitions is to educate the most disadvantaged children in my home diocese. I was assisted greatly by two missionaries in particular, and to thank them I want to help others. But where and how to get the money to do this? My second goal involves building a church for the parish, one that would profit the people and be a mark of my priesthood. Only $35,000 would build a functional church."

A water-harvesting system for one to two families costs $500 and $10,000 will provide a fresh water well for 500 people or more - the population of an average village, he said.

Many rectories in his diocese do not have running water and most priests support a number of children who either are orphaned or have terminally ill parents.

"The children come to us, and we can't send them away," he said. "If people come to you, you must help them. In my case I have five kids who depend on me to pay for their education, clothing and medical services. My brother died, and my sister-in-law is dying, so I support their children."

"As a priest, I am a voice of the voiceless," Fr. Byekwaso said. "If we don't speak for those who can't speak for themselves, they're condemned for the rest of their lives."