Ugandan Catholic Church lacks wine for mass

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Catholic Church in Uganda is facing a critical shortage of wine for mass. Wine is one of the important elements on the altar of the Holy Eucharist.

The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist must be celebrated with bread and wine, to which a small amount of water will be added, according to the present Code of Canon Law.

The wine used in the sacrosanct celebration of the Eucharistic Sacrifice must be natural, coming from the fruit of the grape, pure and uncorrupted, not mixed with other substances.

“Wine represents the blood of Christ. And there is a reason why wine is mixed with water during the Eucharist because during Jesus’ death on the Cross the soldiers pierced his sides and blood and water flowed out,” a Catholic believer told URN.

Holy Communion represents Jesus’ Last Supper with the disciples during Easter. Catholics believe that during the last meal, Jesus blessed the bread and wine and said, “This is my body… This is my blood.”

So wine is key in the consecration. Roman Catholic teachings say that Jesus is present in the consecrated.

It is emerging that the shortages that have existed since the Lenten period are likely to increase further as the war in the Middle East has also affected shipments to Uganda.

JW InterServices Ltd, the Church holding company in charge of international procurement, has notified dioceses of the problem, urging them to use what is in stock sparingly. He said there has been a delay due to the change in supply routes caused by the Middle East conflict.

The Church purchases wine from Spain for celebrations of the Sacrament of Holy Communion. According to the information consulted by the URN addressed to all the dioceses of Uganda, the prelates are expected to use the available wine sparingly to face the crisis.

According to the letter dated April 30, 2024 with reference 240430/Admin/Tr1 written by the CEO of the company, Rev. Fr. Asiku Alfred Tulu, the wine was expected to arrive in the country in early April, but it is possible that This will only be updated at the end of April. end of May, due to the change of routes. The company belongs to the Uganda Catholic Bishops’ Conference and handles international purchases for the Church and some internal purchases.

“I inform you that due to the wars in the Middle East, the ship’s usual passage through the Mediterranean and the Red Sea was suspended and canceled. “Ships have been diverted to take longer, safer routes across the Atlantic and Indian Ocean, causing a major crisis and delays in their arrival at the port of Mombasa,” the company wrote.

“This has affected the arrival of Mass Wine, which we expected to be here in early April 2024. Information from our transporters indicates that Wine will arrive in mid-May and we expect to clear it through Uganda Customs by the end of May. ”adds the letter signed by Father Tulu, urging the economy.

“Therefore, I kindly ask you to regulate the use of wine as much as possible. In the meantime, we have limited stocks of White Mass Wine, duly approved by the Ugandan Bishops’ Conference. Please note that it is also limited,” Father Tulu implored while apologizing for “any inconvenience caused by this unforeseen situation caused by the aforementioned factors.”

The information will be transmitted to all parishes in the country.

The war that has raged since October 7, 2024, when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked Israel killing a few dozen and kidnapping more than a hundred Jews, has seen many other state and non-state actors absorbed into the conflict, which has led to the Red Sea, an important shipping route becoming unsafe for merchant ships.

As Israeli forces relentlessly attack Gaza and targets in the West Bank, more than thirty thousand lives have been lost, including men, women, children and patients, leading to global condemnation of Israel, which enjoys financial, military and diplomatic support. from United States. , United Kingdom, France and several other Western countries.

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URN