Church bans funeral prayers for non-baptised Christians

West Buganda Diocese of the Anglican Church in Buganda has banned funeral prayers for Christians who are not baptized.

The church noted that the decision was meant to curb incidents of the clergy clashing with leaders of different churches during burials of church members.

According to the diocesan secretary Rev Moses Kayimba, the decision was made by Bishop Henry Katumba of West Buganda Diocese.

“A bishop in the diocese oversees all faith activities and has a mandate of guiding the Anglicans in line with the church’s doctrines.

“This is to ensure that faith matters are conducted in the right way. We have had several incidents that informed this particular decision,” said Rev Kayimba.

This was after the bishop was involved in solving cases of clerics clashing during burials of some church members.

In addition, Rev. Kayimba explained that the move will help reduce cases of worshippers moving from one church to another, leading to clerics clashing during burials of such individuals.

“Like our citizenship, it’s confirmed by an official identification card given to all citizens. In the Anglican Church, every baptized christian receives a baptism card to prove his or her membership,” said Rev Kayimba.

For instance, Ordinand Moses Muwulya of Kitengeesa Church of Uganda in Masaka city acknowledged that he was once a victim of clashes involving clerics at a funeral where Anglican clerics were invited.

“One incident happened in a family where a Muslim man and an Anglican wife lost a child. I was called by the wife who was an ardent member of our church to pray for the girl while in a critical condition. When she died, I was blocked by the family to hold funeral prayers,” he said.