AFRICA/UGANDA - Missionary Childhood Day: children can be saints even with the little means they have

Tuesday, 21 July 2020 evangelization missionary childhood childhood pontifical mission societies

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Namugongo (Agenzia Fides) - "Jesus loves children and, like him, they too must share that love with their peers and their families", said Dorothy Atuhaire Ssonko, Sunday school teacher of the minor Basilica of the Martyrs of Uganda in Namugongo, on the occasion of Missionary Childhood Day celebrated in recent days. "We want children to know that they belong to the Church, have the mission of evangelizing their peers who in turn evangelize families", reads the note sent to Agenzia Fides. "The theme of Holiness, established for this year, invites children to know that they can be saints even with the little means they have".
In the liturgy of Sunday July 12, Ugandan children were urged to be preachers of the Word of God to their peers. They were also reminded to pray for classmates around the world, read the Bible and share what they learned with other children and their parents, carry out acts of love and charity for needy children, especially those in their neighborhood.
"The Covid-19 pandemic, which led to the closure of churches in Uganda, did not destroy the Church but rather taught us that the only thing that unites us is prayer", said the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Uganda, Fr. Pontian Kaweesa to Fides. "We must pray and ask God to help us in these difficult times, to help the doctors and nurses who take care of the sick and also to help scientists find a vaccine that can free us from the coronavirus". Fr. Kaweesa also explained that the Catholic Church has four Pontifical Mission Societies for the evangelization and spread of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world.
Each country celebrates Missionary Childhood Day on an established day. Uganda is celebrated on the second Sunday of July each year. This year, the coronavirus pandemic did not allow the children to come together but, according to Ssonko, the children prayed for the Rosary virtually every Saturday since the start of the lockdown. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 21/7/2020)