UGANDA: Seminaries threatened by rising prices

By Eva-Maria Kolmann and John Newton

Monsignor Cosmas Alule, rector of Alokolum Major Seminary in Uganda

The rector of northern Uganda's major seminary has revealed that seminaries in the country have been hit badly by the country's severe economic crisis and rampant inflation.

Monsignor Cosmas Alule, rector of Alokolum Major Seminary, told Aid to the Church in Need that financial problems in Uganda had caused serious problems for the institution, as well as affecting other seminaries in the east African country.

Increasing fuel prices have pushed up the cost of food, with maize, beans, sugar and other staple foods quadrupling in price over the last year.

Monsignor Alule said: "We can hardly meet the costs of our basic needs, despite the fact that we grow rice, beans, maize and vegetables in our gardens in order to reduce our food costs."

Since August 2010, the rate of inflation has risen from 1.7 percent to approximately 19 percent.

According to the rector, the problem is much worse than in the neighbouring countries of Rwanda, Kenya and Tanzania.

He said that the causes of the economic crisis in Uganda – alongside the global economic crisis – were widespread drought and the costly parliamentary election campaign last February.

Mgr Alule told Aid to the Church in Need: "The government has spent money irresponsibly for political purposes, instead of looking after the wellbeing of the people."

Alokolum seminary – based in a region plagued for 20 years by the civil war between the Ugandan government and the rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army – has had to stop all building activities, as materials have become increasingly expensive.

But further building is essential, as the number of priestly vocations has continued to rise and the seminary is suffering from a severe shortage of space.

At Alokolum, 209 students are expected this new academic year – 26 more than the previous year.

The number of seminarians has increased in Uganda's other seminaries, too. Last year 1,130 young men were preparing for the priesthood in the country's five seminaries.

Despite the high number of vocations, there is a shortage of priests in many parts of the country, as 45 percent of Uganda's population of 33 million are Catholic.

Aid to the Church in Need is committed to supporting the seminary's work, and provides Mass stipends to help support priests teaching there.

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