The Greatness
of Laurian Cardinal Rugambwa –Was Something in the Name?
By
Deogratias
Rweyongeza, PhD
Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
There is something unique in the way the Haya people of
northwestern Tanzania assign ethnic names to their children. In this patriarchal
and strongly hierarchical society, the paternal grandfather assigns names to
all his grandsons and granddaughters. Those who are born after the passing of
their grandfathers have names assigned by their fathers. This practice not only
guarantee that the paternal side and clan has the first right for the children
over the maternal side, but also allows the grandfather or father to instill a
vision of the future of their children in the symbolism of the names.
Occasionally, names may be assigned that connote the circumstances of the past
for good or ill. Consequently, the Haya names are not just names but they mean
something. Rugambwa means “the great one”; “the famous”; the one who the people
will always talk about in great esteem.
In the months leading to his 100th birthday and
official reburial in the Bukoba Catholic Cathedral he built and consecrated in
1968 before being named Archbishop of Dar es Salaam in 1969, a lot has been
said about Cardinal Rugambwa. Those who were young when Cardinal Rugambwa was a
bishop in Bukoba speak of the Bishop who would walk around Rutabo Parish
compound to talk to young children playing in the streets; early alumni of
Rugambwa Secondary School speak of their regular visits to the Bishop’s House
at Ntungamo Major Seminary to get lessons on life issues from the Cardinal; in
the mid 1980s, I read a book about Cardinal Rugambwa where it was mentioned that
as a Bishop in Rutabo, Rugambwa would visit bars and homes that were selling
liquor during work hours and order them to close and everybody go to attend
their banana and coffee fields and all would obey. Undoubtedly, Cardinal
Rugambwa created in Bukoba an educational infrastructure that until now has not
been matched by anyone else including the government. It is difficult to imagine
how Bukoba would have been without the pioneering work of Cardinal Rugambwa.
Bukoba is Cardinal Rugambwa and Cardinal Rugambwa is Bukoba. This is what it means
to be “Rugambwa” (the great one); “the visionary”; “the noble”; “the worker”; “the
servant”. Names mean something and sometimes those who bear them when blessed
and principled, deliver.
We read in Psalms 1: 1-3 that “Blessed is
the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the ways of
sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but delights in the law of the Lord,
and on this law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the
stream that yields its fruits in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In
all that he does, he prosper”.
We further read in Psalms 112: 1-3 that “Blessed
is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments! His
descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be
blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endures for
ever”.
Cardinal Rugambwa is the spiritual father of Bukoba, Tanzania and
Africa; and for us in Bukoba he was also the provider of our earthly needs and
a symbol of modernity. This is why, although Cardinal Rugambwa died as an
Archbishop in Dar es Salaam, he will be remembered and cherished much more in
Bukoba. When Cardinal Rugambwa died and his body was transferred to Bukoba, one
Anglican Bishop for a diocese in Mwanza was the graduate students at St. Stephen’s
College at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. At that time, this
bishop went to Bukoba to witness the burial of the Cardinal. When he returned
to Edmonton, he told me that he had never seen anything like this. He spoke of
a sea of people along the roads in Bukoba where the Cardinal’s body passed with
serene as though God has appeared on earth. Yes, this is it what means to be “Rugambwa”
(the great one). Personally I remember sometimes in the 1980s when Cardinal
Rugambwa had a jubilee cerebration at Rutabo Parish. I recall seeing a sea of
people similar to those described by the Anglican bishop.
The star of Laurian Cardinal Rugambwa endures
for ever!
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