By Our Reporter
KAMPALA – The Born Again Faith received full legal status as a faith denomination in Uganda in 2006, and on 30th November 2014 joined the Inter-Religious Council of Uganda (IRCU).
By so doing, the faith leaders had agreed to join efforts with religious institutions including; the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), the Church of the Province of Uganda, the Uganda Orthodox Church (UOC), the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC), the Seventh-day Adventist Uganda Union (SDAUU), and National Alliance of Pentecostal and Evangelical Churches in Uganda (NAPECU) to jointly address issues of common concern.
While addressing the nation during a live radio program on 9th January, 2018, Joseph Kabuleta, the founder of Watchman Ministries condemned the union saying this compromises the gospel overlooked by the inter-faith group.
Joseph Kabuleta was in the company of Pastor Aloysious Bujjingo of House of Prayer Ministries International who singled out faith groups registered by the organisation that have deserted the Christian doctrine of the Trinity, Salvation and Grace.
“IRCU started in 1948, and as a bible prophecy teacher, I know that everything connected to the end times started in 1948. It was in the same year when Israel declared their independence which was an inaugural of God’s calendar of the end time,” Joseph Kabuleta said.
Kabuleta, whose Watchman Ministries was established 2014 “especially to awaken the Church towards the reality of the soon return of Jesus Christ,” asserted pastors joining the Inter-Religious Council were naive of the organisation’s background.
He told listeners the inter-faith council gained momentum under Pope Saint Paul VI who was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in 1978.
“During his time, that is when they had the first inter-faith dialogue in Vatican. This initiative was later backed-up by the United Nations which identified religion as one of the leading cause of division among people,” he said.
Joseph Kabuleta said the Inter-Religious Council promotes religious pluralism, an attitude or policy regarding the diversity of religious belief systems co-existing in society.
“Religious pluralism teaches that there are several ways to God. Anything outside that would be called religious exclusivism which they equate to terrorism. By being part of it, you are mandated to acknowledgement that truths exist in other religion,” he said.
IRCU also works with other religious organizations, namely the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’i, the Methodist and Lutheran Churches. It’s affiliated to the World Council of Religions for Peace (WCRP) and the African Council of Religious leaders (ACRL).
On its official website, IRCU mentions its main focus as promotion of peace and conflict transformation, sustainable human development and network development among the Religious Leaders, communities, women and youths.
On the website still, IRCU pins its institutional objective as including multi-religious collaborative dialogue on issues of common interest and concern among the different faiths based on shared moral commitments in Uganda and in relation to other parts of the world.
Last year, President Yoweri Museveni pledged to support the Inter Religious Council with Shs.5bn to facilitate the promotion of wealth creation among believers.
