BISHOP OF GULU TO THE ARMY: "LET FATHER CARLOS BE, HE IS A MAN OF PEACE"

Church/Religious Affairs, Standard

Monsignor John Baptist Odama, Catholic Archbishop of Gulu, the main city in northern Uganda, has spoken out publicly in defence of Father Carlos Rodriguez Soto, the Comboni missionary of Spanish origin whom the government army recently threatened to expel from the country. At the end of a funeral service in Gulu cathedral for a local religious figure who had died following an illness, Archbishop Odama expressed his desire to make "an important declaration to the army and the press in particular"; the prelate went on to say that the soldiers "must let Father Carlos be. He is a man of peace and he works exclusively to this end". MISNA received his statements from a local source present in the packed church for the funeral rite. "Father Carlos is a member of ARLPI (Acholi Religious Leaders' Peace Initiative, the inter-religious cartel that groups Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Muslim leaders in northern Uganda, ed.) and when he acts he does so not in a private capacity, but on behalf of all members of the group," continued Monsignor Odama. "In reality, whoever attacks Father Carlos also attacks us." The declaration comes a few days after army spokesman Major Shaban Bantariza repeated the order for Father Carlos to leave the country, or at least to move away from the northern districts, which was published by the Ugandan press last Friday. Father Soto received the first threat of expulsion at the end of February; on that occasion, the army accused the missionary of spreading "false information jeopardising national security", with reference to declarations made by Father Carlos, whom the army alleges accused the government forces of acts of violence against civilians. In his recent statement to the media Major Bantariza also accused Father Carlos of collaborating with the rebels of LRA (lord's Resistance Army), providing them with arms and means of communication. Neither the missionary nor his superiors have ever received an official statement from the army or the civil authorities concerning his expulsion. Father Carlos, who has been working for a peaceful solution to the 18-year conflict in northern Uganda since 1991, has said in the past that he has met with the rebels on several occasions within the ambit of the negotiations, and always with the authorisation of the local authorities, often managing to persuade rebels to lay down their arms. [LC]

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