Court summons Pastor Bugingo over burning Bibles
http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Court-summons-Pastor-Bugingo-over-burning-Bibles/688334-4002452-14a9pei/index.html
Thursday July 6 2017
Nabweru Magistrates’ Court has summoned renowned
city pastor, Aloysius Bugingo of the House of Prayer Ministries
International to appear and defend himself on why he recently set on
fire, a heap of Bibles.
According to Wameli Anthony Yeboah, the lawyer representing Aloysius Kiiza Matovu and Evangelist Semugooma Francisco who dragged the Pastor to court, Pastor Bugingo was served the summons on Tuesday evening.
“It is criminal for him to burn Bibles because it goes against the constitution which guarantees freedom of worship and he is abusing the objects of worship which include Bibles, Qurans, rosaries and any other items people may choose to use during worship,” Wameli said.
He added that they need a restraining order against Bugingo because they have reliable information that the pastor has continued burning more Bibles every day.
Addressing journalists in Bwaise on Tuesday, Aloysius Matovu one of the complainants in this case, explained why he and his friend decided to drag the pastor to court.
He explained that they wanted to put a stop on pastor Bugingo from further destruction of Bibles which the future generation will use and also act as evidence that their grandparents used to worship the God of the Bible.
“We are not witch-hunting the pastor but we want him to know that there are future generations that should find Bibles and know that our grand-parents used to pray using them,” Mr Matovu who was once a close friend of Pastor Bugingo said.
According to counsel Wameli, Pastor Bugingo has demonised some types of Bibles claiming that they are not preaching the word of God because they bear the word Holy Ghost.
In April this year, the celebrated preacher stunned the public when he allegedly burned Bibles of King James Version (KJV) and Good News version which he collected from his 6,000-strong flock on Easter Sunday.
The core reason for burning the aforementioned version of the Bibles was that they bore the words ‘Holy Ghost’ as opposed to ‘Holy Spirit.’
It’s further alleged that before Pastor Bugingo could set ablaze the aforementioned Bibles, he reportedly told his flock that King James Version and the New Testament, were tampered with and that some verses were omitted without explanation.
He cited the lines talking about the fasting and Lent which he said were deleted through unclear circumstances and that the word “Holy Ghost” appears 99 times yet the word “Holy Spirit” appears only seven times.
The pastor allegedly said the defects in the Bible were the handiwork of “devil worshipers” and should, therefore, not be allowed to confuse Christians.
