This is a well-researched book and an important contribution to political theology and Catholic Social Teaching in both Africa and World Christianity. Carney offers readers a model of how to write a different kind of church history in Africa. This is achieved by paying attention not so much to institutional narratives, but to the daily witness of people in their prophetic commitment as they courageously confront the challenges and opportunities of post-colonial Africa. Carney is a master storyteller with an accessible writing style. His grounded understanding and engaging analysis of Uganda’s interesting and complex religio-political history makes this book a compelling read.”
—Stan Chu Ilo, Theological Studies
“An intellectually impressive, highly accessible account of Uganda’s Catholic Church by a fine historian and theologian.”
—Kevin Ward, International Bulletin of Missionary Research
“Carney’s reflections on an integrated model of church, not divided into opposing ‘conservative’ and ‘progressive,’ ‘devotional’ and ‘social doctrine’ camps … [shows] that there is no contradiction, no dichotomy; it can be both-and rather than either/or.”
—John Ashworth, Journal of Social Encounters
“In For God and My Country: Catholic Leadership in Modern Uganda, J. J. Carney gives us a glimpse of what Catholic social teaching looks like, not just in ideas but when it is incarnated … Carney’s entire book can make something visible to the reader that can be otherwise hard to see: that becoming more religious, and investing more deeply in our faith, can lead to deeper support for civil society—not withdrawal from it or coercive control over it.”
—America Magazine
“A penetrating and highly informative look into the history, public theology, and socio-political influence of the Catholic Church in Uganda in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Carney’s easy and narrative style means that a broad audience of readers, both scholars and lay, in Africa and elsewhere, will find the book easily accessible and enjoyable to read.”
—Emmanuel Katongole, Professor of Theology and Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame
“J. J. Carney creatively weaves the prophetic biographies of contemporary Catholic women and men into the fascinating cultural and intriguing socio-political history of Uganda. The combination of depth and clarity delivers a riveting account of the influence of Catholic social teaching on leadership in the local and public life of Uganda and in the global context. For God and My Country serves up a rich fare of insights into the dynamics of contemporary public theology.”
—Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ, President of the Jesuit Conference of Africa and Madagascar
“The unsung Romeros and Mother Teresas of Uganda are here deservedly celebrated and brilliantly showcased. More widely, this politically astute and ecclesially challenging book shows why Catholic social tradition cannot be captured in theory, concepts, or principles. Its heart and soul are ‘performance’—in the cultures and crises that adapt it, correct it, and make it live. This work is a landmark intervention in Catholic theology and politics, both faithful and highly original.”
—Lisa Sowle Cahill, J. Donald Monan, SJ, Professor of Theology, Boston College
“This book succeeds admirably in what it sets out to achieve. It is almost a textbook for senior high school students or college students on Catholic Social Teaching. It raises many issues of Catholic public involvement, and although its six different examples come from Uganda, it is directed primarily at students in the United States, illustrating Catholic Social Teaching at the same time as providing awareness of the worldwide Church.”
—Modern Theology
“Thoughtfully prepared for a university classroom, For God and My Country uses well-chosen exemplary life-stories to explore the Ugandan Catholic presence since independence. Jay Carney skillfully blends historical scholarship, theological and ethical perspectives shaped by Catholic social teaching, and compelling narratives to produce portraits of leaders whose diverse heroism creates an inspiring legacy for Uganda’s Catholic Church. The result is a unique work that brings contemporary global Catholic experience alive.”
—Paul Kollman, CSC, Associate Professor of Theology, University of Notre Dame
“Analyzing socio-political history through biographical embodiment of the claim for social justice and respect for human dignity is the innovative articulation of this book. J. J. Carney demonstrates that history is human and human is history, and that social change is often realized by the sacrifice of a few heroic individuals who are willing to lay down their lives for the rest of humanity, just like Jesus did. The author thus immortalizes the lives of Benedicto K. M. Kiwanuka, Emmanuel Cardinal Nsubuga, Fr. John Mary, Sr. Rose Mystica Muyinza, Tonino Pasolini, Sherry Meyer, and Rosalba Ato Oywa. These are heroes of evangelization in Uganda and Africa and their lives carry the legacy. This book would be relevant to readers in theology, African church and history, as well as social justice and political change.”
—Elias Opongo, SJ, Director of the Centre for Research, Training, and Publications (CRTP), Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya
“J. J. Carney’s splendid For God and My Country tells the stories of seven Catholic leaders who embody the Church’s prophetic social mission in postcolonial Uganda. Drawing on oral histories, Carney shows how their living faith ‘fulfilled the gospel, today’ (Luke 4:21) in their courageous pursuit of justice and reconciliation. In a world riven by violence and division, the lesson of these remarkable lives is both timely and truly ‘catholic,’ or universal.”
—William O’Neill, SJ, Professor Emeritus, Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University, and currently serving with the Jesuit Refugee Service in Nairobi, Kenya
“For God and My Country is a fresh, inspiring, and humbling work … Scholars of mission have much to learn from Carney’s rich historical research, extensive ethnographic work, and contribution to Catholic leadership studies in a Majority world context.”
—Transformation
