The Comboni Missionary is remembered in Uganda, especially in Kalongo where he ran a state-of the art-hospital, as a surgeon, philanthropist, and educator.
The Kalongo Hospital he founded reportedly gained a reputation for excellence, growing only from a dispensary to a full-fledged hospital, which started delivering babies and attending to medical and pediatric patients.
In his homily during the November 20 beatification celebration, the Apostolic Nuncio in Uganda, Archbishop Luigi Bianco, called on the people of God to follow the example of Blessed Ambrosoli who he said had been selfless in his service as a Priest and medical doctor.
"The new Blessed offers the best example of a person who did not look to his own interest; but his life was completely in tireless giving for the healing of wounds of bodies and souls of the needy, both as a Priest and a medical doctor. The Apostolic letter of Pope Francis presents him as a good Samaritan," Archbishop Luigi said.
He added, "We are invited to consider the heroic virtues of the new Blessed Giuseppe Ambrosoli faith, hope, charity, humility, goodness, patience, generosity, spirit of service, sense of duty and availability."
In his message during the beatification celebration, President Museveni expressed gratitude to the Catholic Church for organizing the event in Uganda, saying, “We want to thank His Holiness Pope Francis and the Church for recognising the special work of Dr. Ambrosoli.”
The Ugandan President acknowledged the contribution of Christianity in Africa, saying that the greatest gift of the religion on the continent is the message of love in the Bible.
“The Christian religion has been here for over 100 years. The Christian religion of course had bad people who were hypocrites, like those who took slaves. In the majority, however, it had a good message. The good message was summarized in the commandment of love. The message of Christianity is excellent: Love God and overcome selfishness,” President Museveni said.
He added that through Christianity, Africa had also received Missionaries such as Blessed Ambrosoli who had done a lot of development on the continent.
He said in reference to the member of the Comboni Family, “He spent a lot of time here healing people and also preaching the word of God. He was in a remote place, having left the comfort of his home in Italy.”
