Kampala, 13 November, 2024 / 10:51 pm (ACI Africa).
The leadership and Parishioners of Mapeera Kigungu Catholic church of Kampala Archdiocese in Uganda are counting losses after arsonists set fire on a section of the church in a suspected land feud.
The church building that is reportedly the oldest in the East African nation stands at the site, where the first Catholic missionaries in the country, Fr. Siméon Lourdel and Br. Amans Delmas of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) first arrived in 1879.
The information service of Propaganda Fide, Agenzia Fides, has reported that on November 7, unknown persons entered the church at 10 p.m. and set fire to the left side of the presbytery.
The flames, according to the Monday, November 11 Agenzia Fides report, destroyed valuable religious objects, including priestly vestments, altar chalices, tablecloths and bottles of communion wine.
“The flames were noticed by some believers who raised the alarm so that the fire could be extinguished before major damage was caused,” the report indicates, adding that authorities in Uganda are investigating the incident with the help of surveillance camera footage from the area.
