Its been confirmed by the Vatican church and catholic church that Pope Francis will be coming to visit Uganda later this year. This has highly excited the catholic community in Uganda, according to Fr Emmanuel Kimbowa the outgoing parish priest of Uganda Martyrs’ Namugongo shrine, he described Uganda as “unique” country.

Excitedly he explained that it’s a great honor for Uganda to host the Pope. He said, the first papal visit to Africa was in Uganda (Pope Paul VI in 1969) and that his successor, Pope John Paul II, also came to Uganda in 1993, and now the ‘revolutionary’ Pope Francis is on his way “This is a clear indication that the Uganda martyrs are truly extraordinary. Uganda, as a Christian country, is very proud both spiritually and economically,” Fr Kimbowa said. Pope Francis in his speech said he will make stops in Uganda and the Central African Republic. He also confirmed plans to travel to the United States in September.

On his six-day US visit, the pontiff is expected to address the United Nations General Assembly, among other engagements. According to Fr. Kimbowa, one of the architects of the planned redevelopment of the martyrs’ shrines both at Namugongo and Munyonyo, said he has been translating Pope Paul VI’s homily at the Vatican during the canonization of the Uganda martyrs in 1964. “I have finished the translation from Latin to English. I now want to translate it into Luganda. I first did it for my own [consumption] but now I think everyone should know how relevant the Uganda martyrs were to the our faith. Late last year, the President Museveni visited the Vatican late last year and the issue of a possible papal visit to Uganda was discussed, but no guarantees were made.

The pope’s visit is primarily to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations of the canonization of the Uganda martyrs. Now that the visit has been confirmed, Fr Kimbowa says the redevelopment of the Namugongo shrine should be worked upon. Looking back at the popes visit in the Philippines, where the pope last week attracted over six million people in one event, Fr Kimbowa expressed fears that Uganda currently lacks capacity to handle such a crowd. He explained that Namugongo cannot ably host a million people in its current state.

This is a challenge we have to quickly address. Late last year, President Museveni commissioned the Shs 36bn Namugongo and Munyonyo martyrs shrines redevelopment. During the press conference aboard the plane, AFP journalist Jean Louis De Vaissiere asked: “Holy Father, you have now gone twice to Asia. The Catholics of Africa have yet to receive a visit from you. You know that from South Africa to Nigeria to Uganda, many faithful who suffer from poverty, war,[and] Islamic fundamentalism hope you will visit this year.

So, I would like to ask you, when and where are you thinking of going?” The pope replied: “The plan is to go to Central African Republic and Uganda. These two, this year. I think that this will be towards the end of the year, because of the weather, no? They have to calculate when there won’t be rains. This trip is a bit overdue because there was the Ebola problem. It is a big responsibility to hold big gatherings, contagion, no? But in these countries there is no problem. These two are hypothetical but it will be this year.”