Memoirs of Cardinal
Rugambwa: His last Journeys to Europe
and Bukoba
By
Fr. Stan Mutajwaha, PhD.
Catholic Diocese of Bukoba, Tanzania
(Writing from USA)
(2) From Dar es Salaam to Rome
We flew by the British Airways from the now Mwalimu Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam to
Rome via London. Though thorough as they
ought to be, our check-in and passport control formalities went as fast as they
could be probably because we entered through the VIP lounge. His Eminence was
travelling on a diplomatic passport and my documents were in order. Our reserved seats were next to each other in
the economy class. When we boarded the
plane His Eminence chose to sit along to the aisle. So, I took the window. We
had hardly had the time to fasten our belts when one air hostess came and
requested His Eminence to go and take a place in the business class. His
Eminence thanked the air hostess for the courtesy but explained that he was
unfortunately not able to accept the promotion since doing so would have meant
leaving me behind in the economy class. The air hostess went and spoke to I do
not know whom and returned very soon later. She repeated the offer but now
assuring His Eminence at the same time that there were two places in the
business class ready, one for each of us. His Eminence thanked her again and
said to me, “Now that they have found places for both of us, let us go”. I had never flown business class before but
now I did and without a proper ticket. It made me remember the words someone
had told me a couple days before while this journey was being arranged: “You
are accompanying a titan”.
As the plane readied for takeoff,
His Eminence was pressing the beads, quietly reciting his rosary. When he was
ready with the rosary, he introduced a conversation. At one point he asked if I
still remembered the very scary turbulences we had met about five years earlier
as we flew over the Alp Mountains between Italy and Switzerland. His Eminence
was referring to one occasion when he had asked me to escort him from Rome to
Aachen in Germany where he had an appointment with the Directors of
Missio-Aachen. He was going to present
and discuss one development project for the Archdiocese of Dar es salaam with
the officials of this Missionary Funding Organization. On that bad weather day
and in those clouds that plane probably shook more than usual and I am not sure
whether there were many passengers on board who will have enjoyed that kind of
situation. So, no wonder that almost five years later His Eminence still
remembered those turbulences. But, luckily on this entire journey nothing
similar happened.
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