Cultivating a Bible-reading culture among Roman Catholics

KAMPALA, Uganda — As the largest Christian confession in Uganda, the Roman Catholic Church is also the largest purchasers of Scriptures from the Bible Society of Uganda. A visit to Kampala’s busy Catholic Bookstore, which stocks a good supply of Catholic versions of the Good News Bible as well as Bible Society vernacular translations, confirms this fact.

Sacred Heart Cathedral, in Rubaga Parish, is Kampala’s major Roman Catholic cathedral. Because it sits on top of one of the high points in the area, Muslims are striving to gain equality with it and St Paul’s Church, the Anglican cathedral, by building an Arab-financed mosque on an historic non-Muslim hill in the heart of the old city. Kampala, Uganda. Photo: UBS/Larry Jerden (UGA02DJ-20)

Despite this, the Bible Society is not well known among Catholics and it has been working to remedy this. Chris Lumu, a fundraising assistant in the Bible Society of Uganda’s Public Relations department, says that the Society recently visited a Catholic hospital.

“It was an excellent opportunity to meet a large cross section of people from the Catholic church,” he explains. “We were invited to come during Bible Week, when we conducted an awareness program. Many people were very interested and said it was the first time they had heard about the Bible Society. They also responded positively to our fundraising efforts to provide Bibles for prisoners and people in war-affected areas. People in the Catholic community are open.”

The Bible Society has also made efforts to involve the Catholic Church itself in its work – something that has been appreciated by Catholic church leaders. Father John Wynando Katende, Archpriest of the Catholic Sacred Heart Cathedral of the Parish of Rubaga, the major cathedral in Kampala, says he was “inspired” when Bible Society General Secretary, Henry Kalule, visited him to find out how they could work together more closely.

“He took the initiative and I appreciated that,” says Fr Katende. “As a result, we were very active during Bible Week last year.”
Fr Katende’s co-operation with the Bible Society has been far more wide-reaching than Bible Week – he has participated in Bible Society translation projects and involved Roman Catholic laity in the proofreading of new translations.

“We are working more and more closely with the Bible Society,” he says. “Our Cardinal is one of the patrons of the Bible Society, we are represented on the translation committees and on boards – all this has psychologically put the Bible Society in a better perspective for us.”

Fr Katende, as Director of the Biblical Apostolate in the archdiocese, is charged with encouraging Catholics to read the Bible – something that he sees as key to Uganda’s future.

“I do not think that we [Ugandans] have come to appreciate the Word of God to the level that makes us committed Christians,” he says. He added that this is why Ugandan society is plagued with crime and corruption.

Better place

“We will only make this country a better place through building the Kingdom of God, not through cheating, not through corruption but through love and charity,” he says.

One of the most important ways to get Ugandans to read the Bible, Fr Katende insists, is to make it more available in the various languages spoken by the people.

“The Bible in a local language is a gift from God,” he comments. “At the moment we have the New Testament and Psalms in my local language and that is the translation I’ve been encouraging people to use. It is not only cheaper, but it is a joint translation, which I believe is the work of the Holy Spirit. And I believe that it will be the Word of God – if anything – that will bring us closer together.”

Improved co-operation

While he is pleased with the improved co-operation between Roman Catholics and the Bible Society, Fr Katende feels that more can be done to encourage Ugandans to engage with God’s Word. One of the problems in encouraging people to read the Bible is, he says, the fact that many can still not afford to buy Scriptures.

“Many of our people are poor and our desire would be for less expensive Bibles. Whenever I can give a Bible to a person I feel that is a great victory.”

In the meantime Fr Katende is encouraging his congregation to read the Bible by handing out pamphlets containing Bible Portions each Sunday, for use during and after the service.

“These Portions cannot replace having the whole Bible but we are cultivating a culture of Bible-reading,” he explains. (WR 375/15 - 3.03)