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Pope Francis Appoints Apostolic Administrator for Uganda’s Kampala Archdiocese

Bishop Paul Semogerereof Kasana-Luweero, appointed Apostolic Administrator of Uganda's Kampala Archdiocese by Pope Francis on 8 April 2021.

Pope Francis has appointed the Bishop of Uganda’s Kasana-Luweero Diocese as the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Kampala, which fell vacant following the death of Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga on April 3.

The Apostolic Nuncio in Uganda announced the appointment of Bishop Paul Ssemogerere as Apostolic Administrator of Kampala on Thursday, April 8 during Archbishop Kizito Lwanga’s Funeral Mass.

“The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in the name of His Holiness Pope Francis has appointed His Lordship Paul Ssemogerere, Bishop of the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero as Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Kampala,” the representative the Holy Father in Uganda, Archbishop Luigi Bianco, said during the Eucharistic celebration held at the Sacred Heart Lubaga Cathedral of Kampala Archdiocese. 

The Holy See sent its “best wishes to the Bishop and invite him to collaborate in exercising of his responsibility in the service of this Archdiocese of Kampala in this time of a vacant seat,” Archbishop Bianco added.

Born in June 1956 in Kisubi in the Archdiocese of Kampala, Bishop Ssemogerere was ordained a Priest for the same ecclesiastical see in June 1983. 

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In June 2008, he was appointed the second Local Ordinary of Kasana–Luweero Diocese, succeeding Archbishop Kizito Lwanga who had been transferred to Kampala Archdiocese in August 2006 and installed a month later. 

While presiding over Archbishop Kizito Lwanga’s Requiem Mass April 5, Bishop Ssemogerere eulogized the late Archbishop as one who championed the sharing of the Word of God and fostered the empowerment of God’s people in his episcopal sees. 

“We have truly lost a dear shepherd of God’s flock. We are all aware of the great deeds done by the Archbishop in spreading the word of God and the development of all people spiritually, morally and economically,” Bishop Ssemogerere eulogized the late Archbishop in his homily.

He added in reference to Archbishop Kizito Lwanga who succumbed to a heart attack occasioned by a blood clot that was found inside the artery that supplies blood to the heart, “His work is clear to our eyes and ears pertaining to the call to all people to follow the rule of law and respect of each other.”

Archbishop Kizito Lwanga was laid to rest at the Sacred Heart Lubaga Cathedral of Kampala Archdiocese on April 8.  

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Bishop Ssemogerere will temporarily oversee the Ugandan Archdiocese that has a population of 1.9 million Catholics and covers 3,644 square kilometres, according to 2019 statistics.

The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kampala comprises four suffragan Dioceses of Kasana-Luweero, Kiyinda-Mityana, Lugazi, and Masaka.  

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.