By Jane Nambi

Father Musaala Anthony has vowed to challenge his suspension as a Catholic priest by Archbishop of Uganda, Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga.

In his letter titled, ‘AN OPEN LETTER TO BISHOPS, PRIESTS AND  LAITY:  THE FAILURE OF CELIBATE CHASTITY AMONG DIOCESAN PRIESTS’, Fr. Musaala cited several issues eating at the catholic church ranging from celibacy, which has increasingly become more of a word than an action to the hypocrisy in the catholic church.

Despite the suspension, the Rev. Fr. Anthony Musaala  said he had no regrets. He vowed to appeal his suspension before the Apostolic Nuncio, the Pope’s ambassador in the country. “….I will go and see the Pope’s ambassador. I have written my statement, and I have said; you know…. First of all, you are suspending me for putting something on the [Inter]net, which I didn’t do. The guy who did, said he would be happy to come out and to say that I [Fr. Musaala] never asked him to do that”.

Fr. Musaala hopes he can help in fighting against the increasing cases of child abuse in Uganda. 9“Well, I think a lot of people are going to come out and say they need help; that they have been abused or molested and they are much freer to come out and talk about it openly.”

“I asked, in my letter, why priests were not given the option of marriage. This is another reason why I was suspended. The truth of the matter is there are married priests in England who were Anglicans before. The church allowed them to keep their wives when they became priests. Why not give them the option in Africa?…I’m not opposed to celibacy, but when it is a purely administrate thing you know, people have to be committed to it in a more meaningful way,” he said.

Dr. Lwanga on Tuesday wrote while suspending Fr. Musaala saying, “This means, therefore, that Fr. Musaala because of the publication of his article in the public media which damages good morals of Catholic believers and further expresses a wrong teaching against the Catholic Church’s teaching and that this stirs up hatred and contempt against the Church, he incurs a Ferendae sententiae penalty as prescribed by Can.1314. This means that Father Anthony Musaala is suspended from celebrating sacraments and from the powers of governance in accordance to the law of the Church Can.1335 and1336 (1, 2and3) as investigations are being carried on.”