KABALE, UGANDA: Rev. Fr. Gaetano Batanyenda, the outspoken Priest of Kitanga Parish in the Kabale Diocese has hit back at Internal Affairs Minister, Gen. Kahinda Otafiire for a statement he made last week saying poor people will not go to heaven.
Gen. Otafiire who was last week addressing a cross-section of local leaders and residents of Manafwa district said that poor people were a liability to God and the Government.
“I am neither a pastor nor a reverend, but I can assure you that the poor will never step in heaven,” Otafiire said, adding that it was poor, who were ever grumbling against God and when they appear before Him, they would complain why God denied them earthly possessions.
“It’s very difficult to administer poor people,” Kahinda said, arguing that while the rich could afford everything, the poor easily give in to the temptation to sin in their quest for what they don’t not have.
in response, Fr. Gaetano who is also the Chairperson of the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda – I.R.C.U, Kigezi Region has described Otafiire’s words as “reckless” and “blasphemous”.
“I would like to remind Minister Kahinda Otafiire that it’s Government thieves who will go to hell, not the poor,” said Fr. Gaetano.
Quoting the Biblical story of Lazarus and the rich man, Fr. Gaetano told Otafiire that “a majority of the rich people’s destination is hell,” while the poor may have their place secured in heaven, as explained by Prophet Abraham in Luke 16:25.
The priest also referred Otafiire to Mathew 19:24, where Jesus Christ told his disciples that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Fr. Gaetano further said that Otafiire’s words were a mockery of Ugandans who had been reduced to poverty by a corrupt regime.
“Who has made Ugandans poor? Isn’t it the Corruption in the NRM Government where Otafiire is a top official? He should actually apologize to both God and Ugandans for his reckless and blasphemous statements,” said Fr. Gaetano.
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