Economics and Catholic Social Thought with a Closer Look at Soroti Catholic Diocese: letter by Rt. Rev. Joseph Eciru Oliach

Dear reader, I am greatly honored, upon the invitation by the President of Catholic Research Economists Development Organization (CREDO), Prof. Joseph Kaboski, to contribute my ideas and realities to CREDO. This is my second year as Bishop in a diocese located in Eastern Uganda, a third world and agrarian economy! I shall try to give the intersection of Economics and Catholic Social Thought drawing from the Catholic intellectual tradition and the situation of the people in my diocese.

The Catholic church, as we all know, right from the time of Pope Leo XIII, has kept on developing a teaching that serves and protects the dignity of the human person and the common good of all. Pope Francis has made it even more concrete by focusing his energies on the principles of the fundamental option for the poor, solidarity and responsible care for creation. His encyclicals and other teachings are quite clear on this. In his 2020 encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, issued in the midst of this pandemic, he warns against the prevailing “throwaway” culture, of a wasteful and carefree existence. He advocates for food security, the protection of the poor, the disabled, the elderly and the unborn! (N. 18-20). He also advocates for economic rules that promote both growth and development; and the increase of wealth and equality (N.21). I must commend your timely efforts as Catholic Economists that in uniting together with your various intellectual endowments and resources, you too are serving God in His suffering people today. The digital apostolate is one of the most vibrant today, thanks to the advancement of science and technology. I, too, have written several pastoral letters to my people and disseminated via social media. I have celebrated Masses livestream in our diocesan radios and my pastors too have taken on this apostolate. Our diocesan Development/ Caritas department too strives to partner with many organizations to support the income generating activities of the households.

All my two years as Bishop have been marked by a standstill of major developmental initiatives in my diocese due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is very humbling, I must say, for a new Bishop who still has the passion and energy to serve the integral needs of the sheep in a poverty-stricken diocese. Being the first native Bishop of the area, I feel the tough pain of this pandemic because it has ushered in a new era of suffering to my people who were trying to heal from the previous ‘pandemics’ – the Lord’s Resistance Army/ Kony war of 2003-2004, the deadly famines, the Uganda People’s Army war of 1987-1992, and the Karimojong cattle raids of 1985-1987. This diocese was only created in 1980 and so, therefore, looking at the turn of events, it has gone through instabilities which have made it difficult to enjoy sustainable economic growth and development of the peoples. I joined the seminary, as an orphan, in the times of war and saw many people die. Economic production diminished and famine hit the land since most people were displaced in camps. By the grace of God, personal zeal and the struggle of my relatives and benefactors, I completed formation. I was ordained a priest in the time of Kony war in 2003, and also now a Bishop in this time of the ‘new war’ on health! As I write now, Uganda is on ‘stay-home’ lockdown. The major economic activity for most people in my diocese is subsistence agriculture for household survival and small-scale trading. Our local markets are closed and this has negatively impacted on economic transactions in our limited labor market economy. Schools are closed. Many workers have become unemployed. The death rate has increased of those succumbing to the deadly virus. Government, the Church, civil and charitable bodies are struggling to find some relief support to offer to the dependent population.

As a diocese our new Cathedral construction project has been halted by this pandemic!

I appeal to you all to pray for and support us. Stay healthy. God bless you all.

The Rt. Rev. Joseph Eciru Oliach is the third Bishop of Soroti Catholic Diocese. He holds a Licentiate in Sacred Scripture from the Biblicum, Rome, and a Doctorate in Biblical Theology from the Pontifical Urbaniana University, Rome. Prior to his appointment as Bishop, he served as a professor of Biblical Theology at St. Mary’s National Seminary, Ggaba, Kampala. For any inquiries or support to his new Cathedral construction project, please contact him by email at: ecirujoseph@yahoo.com, bishopsrtcatholic@gmail.com; diocesan website: www.soroticatholicdiocese.org; or call his telephone lines: +256 (0) 783 243 968, +256 (0) 703 225 281