Last week, residents of Saali village in Gomba District received news that has been the talk of the town: a baby reportedly born holding a Catholic devotional medal.
NBS Television reported the story. The baby’s mother, Sylvia Nakalanzi, claimed the baby was born with the medal. The father, Jonan Kakulu, said he received the news with disbelief.
Some residents nicknamed the baby Jesus. It is an extraordinary claim. But from the look of things, the evidence is far from extraordinary.
There is no video of the baby being born with the medal in its hand. Photos shared on social media show the baby clutching the medal. However, a still image captures a moment, not the entire birth process—from when labour pains begin to when the baby emerges from the birth canal.
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While villagers in Saali and the news outlets that reported the story are presenting it as a miracle, it does not pass the sniff test.
Newborns automatically curl their fingers around anything placed in their palm. Nothing so far suggests that the people present at the birth could not have placed the medal in the baby’s hand after delivery.
Photos that accompanied the story show a baby who appears to be several days old, not a newly born baby moments after birth.
Crucially, if the baby was born holding the medal, it would mean the medal was in the womb with the baby. A foetus carrying a foreign object in the uterus for months would raise serious medical questions and is, at the very least, highly implausible.
Given the fact that Uganda is a highly religious and superstitious country, this story has been widely believed—perhaps as proof that a divine hand is playing some role in human affairs.
But even if it were true that the baby miraculously lived in the womb with a medal and came out clutching it, this miracle achieves nothing.
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If the aim were to convince sceptics that divine power is real, it is hard to see how a miracle in a random village in a world with millions of villages would achieve that.
Given the doubts people across the globe have about divine power, it is hard to believe that a baby born with a medal does anything to banish those doubts.
More pertinent questions follow. Why does it have to be a Catholic devotional medal? Where does this leave Muslims, Protestants, Buddhists and followers of other faiths?
🔴 Sunday Thought cuts through the noise of prayer, piety and superstition to ask the questions most people avoid. It discusses God, faith and religion—not to preach, but to probe, challenge and sometimes unsettle. Whether you believe, doubt or have stopped looking altogether, Sunday Thought will make you think, question and maybe even rethink everything you thought you knew about the divine—and about life itself.