FORT PORTAL CITY, March 4, 2025: President Yoweri Museveni has called on Christians in the country to embrace government programmes aimed at tackling household poverty.
In a speech delivered by Vice President Jessica Alupo during the rededication of Our Lady of Snows Virika Cathedral in the Fort Portal Diocese on Sunday, Museveni emphasised that initiatives such as Emyooga, the Parish Development Model [PDM], the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP), and the Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme [UWEP] are designed to uplift households and enable them to achieve financial independence.
“I want to thank religious leaders for their role in popularising government programmes through sensitisation. I now urge all Christians and Ugandans to escape poverty,” Museveni stated.
Significance of Virika Cathedral’s rededication
The rededication ceremony was presided over by the Papal Nuncio to Uganda, Archbishop Luigi Bianco, who highlighted the central role of cathedrals in the spiritual life of the Church.
Bianco noted that the rededication of Virika Cathedral coincided with the jubilee year, a sacred period in the Catholic Church marked by renewal, reconciliation, and special spiritual graces.
“Traditionally, the jubilee year offers the faithful an opportunity for pilgrimage, penance, and receiving indulgences, which are acts of divine mercy that grant remission of temporal punishment for sins,” he explained.
He added that the rededication of the cathedral reaffirms its place as a beacon of faith and a centre of grace and renewal within the diocese.
“The Church, as a building, is a powerful sign of God’s presence among His people. With this sacred structure, God dwells spiritually, making it a space for worship, prayer, and communion with Him,” Bianco said.
He also called on Catholics worldwide to pray for Pope Francis, who is currently hospitalised with respiratory complications, although foreign news agencies have reported that his condition has improved.
Bishop Muhirwa reminds Museveni of unfulfilled pledge
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Fort Portal Catholic Diocese, Rt. Rev. Dr. Robert Muhirwa, through the Vice President, reminded President Museveni of his unfulfilled pledge of 2.3 billion Ugandan shillings for the construction of a library at St. Joseph’s Technical College Virika. This promise was made during Museveni’s visit in 2018.
Bishop Muhirwa noted that St. Joseph’s Technical Institute aligns with Museveni’s vision of skilling and technological innovation, emphasising the need for further support to make the president’s dream a reality.
About the Virika Cathedral renovation
According to the Chairperson of the Virika Cathedral Renovation Committee, Msgr. Isaiah Mayombo, who also serves as the Vicar General of Fort Portal Catholic Diocese, the renovation project cost 3.6 billion shillings.
Mayombo explained that after the cathedral suffered damage due to a leaking roof, the diocese has spent the past four years undertaking the renovation project. For a year, the cathedral had been closed for worship and repurposed as a construction site.
“The cathedral, located in Fort Portal City, is the principal church of the Fort Portal Catholic Diocese and the seat of the bishop of the diocese,” Mayombo said.
Our Lady of Snows Virika Cathedral was built in 1967 and dedicated on 21st April 1968 by His Eminence Laurian Cardinal Rugambwa, the then Archbishop of Bukoba, Tanzania.
The cathedral’s unique beauty and splendour are a source of pride not only for the Catholic community but for the entire region, making it a major tourist attraction. Many people travel from distant places just to see the Cathedral of Virika.
The re-dedication of Virika Cathedral attracted Catholic believers from the Fort Portal Catholic Diocese, religious leaders from various faiths, politicians from the region, and Catholic religious leaders from the Mbarara Archdiocese.
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