A photo montage of Fr. Anthony Musaala (left) and Archbishop of Kampala Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga
By Monitor Reporter
Posted Wednesday, March 20 2013 at 10:05
Posted Wednesday, March 20 2013 at 10:05
The Archbishop of Kampala Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga has suspended maverick cleric Fr. Anthony Musaala, who authored a document criticising Catholic Church colleagues in Uganda, accusing them of sexual crimes among others.Dr. Lwanga, in a statement on Tuesday, said Fr. Musaala had been suspended for the document, which “damages the good morals of the Catholic believers and faults the church’s teaching”. According to the Dr Lwang, Fr. Musaala admitted to authoring the document, which has been widely circulating on the internet.“As per now, after the acceptance of Fr. Musaala that he authored this document, the law prescribed by the Church in can. 1369 takes its course. This law states that: “A person is to be punished with a just penalty, who, at a public event or assembly, or in a published writing, or by otherwise using the means of social communication, utters blasphemy, or gravely harms public morals, or rails at or excites hatred of or contempt for religion or the Church,” said the Archbishop.
“This means therefore, that Fr. Musaala because of
the publication of his article in the public media which damages good
morals of Catholic believers and further expresses a wrong teaching
against the Catholic Church’s teaching and that this stirs up hatred and
contempt against the Church, he incurs a Ferendae sententiae penalty as
prescribed by Can.1314, Dr Lwanga said in the statement.He added: “ This means that Father Anthony Musaala
is suspended from celebrating sacraments and sacramentals, from the
powers of governance in accordance to the law of the Church Can.1335
and1336§1n.1, 2and3 as investigations are being carried on.”In his dossier, Fr. Musaala alleges sexual abuse
among Catholic clergy in Uganda and sought open debate on allowing
priests to marry instead of pretending to be celibate. Fr. Musaala also
confessed in the document, to being sodomised at 16 while at the
Seminary and implicated colleagues/bishops in having undisclosed
children as well as secret children, accusing them of living a
hypocritical life and hoodwinking a gullible flock.
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Archbishop’s Lwanga’s Full Statement:
Dear people of God,
I deeply think of the immense suffering caused by
the article produced in the media authored by Fr. Anthony Musaala, that
seems to be casting a dark shadow of suspicion” over all priests.Above all, the Church takes seriously the
allegations in this article. On behalf of my fellow Catholic Bishops in
Uganda I wish to assure the public that as leaders of the Catholic
Church in Uganda; we are committed to the protection of the minors and
rights of everyone. Investigations about these allegations are to begin
immediately with of course cases that are proved.It should however, be clear to everyone that the
value of the choice of priestly celibacy according to the Catholic
tradition still stands, and the need for solid human and Christian
formation is underlined, both for seminarians and for those already
ordained.The Catholic Church’s Code of Canon Law states the
stand of the Catholic Church on celibacy in Canon 277, which mandates
clerical celibacy that: “Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and
perpetual continence for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven and therefore
are obliged to observe celibacy, which is a special gift of God, by
which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an
undivided heart and can more freely dedicate themselves to the services
of God and mankind.”
This Church law is embraced willingly as
prescribed by Can.1037 which states that: “A candidate for the permanent
diaconate who is not married, and likewise a candidate for the
priesthood, is not to be admitted to the order of diaconate unless he
has, in the prescribed rite, publically before God and the Church
undertaken the obligation of celibacy, or unless he has taken perpetual
vows in a religious institute”. This means therefore that no one is
forced to embrace this discipline before or at ordination.Everyone should once again remember that until
Christ came along (Mt 19:12), and then Paul (1 Cor. 7:32-35), the only
state of life known was marriage but when Christ came, He made it clear
that some people would remain celibate (“eunuchs”) for the sake of the
Kingdom of God (Mt 19:12). St. Paul further recommended it for those who
would be dedicated to serving God in this world (1 Cor. 7:7, 17,
32-35), for the salvation of souls and it is totally a freedom of choice
as the above biblical quotations suggest.If one fails to comply with this discipline, he does it on his
own and not on behalf of the Church. Consequently personal failure in
this regard is not an offence sanctioned by the Church. However we as
Bishops deeply regret such failures and seek forgiveness from those who
have been victims.
I indeed applaud all the many religious men and
women who have remained faithful to this promise and there is nothing we
can offer but our prayers for them.It is very unfortunate that the author of the
published document stands to call for suspension of this discipline
through his proposed forum that has no Church legitimacy and yet the
Church’s legislation and practice is clear on this point. None-the-less
we are going to investigate into the allegations in the article with
people concerned together with certainty of the author of this document.As per now, after the acceptance of Fr. Musaala
that he authored this document, the law prescribed by the Church in can.
1369 takes its course. This law states that: “A person is to be
punished with a just penalty, who, at a public event or assembly, or in a
published writing, or by otherwise using the means of social
communication, utters blasphemy, or gravely harms public morals, or
rails at or excites hatred of or contempt for religion or the Church.”
This means therefore that Fr. Musaala because of
the publication of his article in the public media which damages good
morals of Catholic believers and further expresses a wrong teaching
against the Catholic Church’s teaching and that this stirs up hatred and
contempt against the Church, he incurs a Ferendae sententiae penalty as
prescribed by Can.1314. This means that Father Anthony Musaala is
suspended from celebrating sacraments and sacramentals, from the powers
of governance in accordance to the law of the Church Can.1335
and1336§1n.1, 2and3 as investigations are being carried on.Once more I feel sorry of the inconveniences
caused by this article and let us entrust the whole matter to our Lord
the most chaste, for the conversion of hearts to do good.
Yours Sincerely in Christ,
+Cyprian K. Lwanga
ARCHBISHOP OF KAMPALA
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