The

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, Nyakay ...

(''Archidioecesis Mbararaensis'') in

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

covers an area of 10,980 km² in southwestern

. As of 2003, of the 2.2 million citizens in the area 856,168 are members of the Catholic Church. The archdiocese is subdivided into 25 parishes, and has 114 priests altogether. The archdiocese is the metropolitan for the dioceses of: *(a)

Hoima Hoima is a city in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Hoima District. It is also the location of the palace of the Omukama of Bunyoro. Location Hoima is approximately , by road, nort ...

*(b)

Fort Portal Fort Portal or Kabarole is a city located in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the seat of both Kabarole District and historically of the Toro Kingdom. Location Fort Portal in Kabarole District is located approximately by road, west of Kampal ...

*(c)

Kasese Kasese is a town north of Lake George in the Western Region of Uganda. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the chief town of Kasese District, and the district headquarters ...

*(d)

Kabale Kabale is a town in the Western Region, Uganda, Western Region of Uganda. It is the chief town of Kabale District, and the district headquarters are located there. Sometimes nicknamed “Kastone” as in the local language Rukiga, a “kabale” ...

The cathedral is the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Mbarara.

History

The archdiocese dates back to the Vicariate Apostolic of Ruwenzori, which was erected on May 28, 1934 by splitting the Vicariate Apostolic of Uganda. On March 25, 1953 it was elevated to a diocese and renamed after its principal town Mbarara. 1961 territory was lost to the newly erected diocese of Fort Portal, and again in 1966 to the diocese of Kabale. On January 2, 1999 the diocese was elevated to an archdiocese. Before being an archdiocese the diocese was a suffragan diocese of the

Archdiocese of Kampala The Archdiocese of Kampala is the Metropolitan See for the Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical province of Kampala in Uganda. History The present Kampala Archdiocese is the result of territorial changes: * Victoria Nyanza Vicariate (1883). It was ...

Bishops

;''Vicar Apostolic of Ruwenzori'' * Bishop François-Xavier Lacoursière

Missionaries of Africa , image = Cardinal Lavigerie.jpg , caption = Charles Lavigerie , abbreviation = M.Afr. , nickname = White Fathers , formation = , founder = Archbishop Charles-Martial Allem ...

(28 May 1934 - 25 March 1953 ''see below'') ;''Bishops of Mbarara'' * Bishop François-Xavier Lacoursière

Missionaries of Africa , image = Cardinal Lavigerie.jpg , caption = Charles Lavigerie , abbreviation = M.Afr. , nickname = White Fathers , formation = , founder = Archbishop Charles-Martial Allem ...

(''see above'' 25 March 1953 - 20 April 1956) * Bishop

Jean-Marie Gaëtan Ogez Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law * Jean-Marie Ch ...

, Missionaries of Africa (11 December 1956 - 25 November 1968) * Bishop

John Baptist Kakubi John Baptist Kakubi (September 23, 1929 – February 11, 2016) was a Roman Catholic bishop. Ordained to the priesthood, in 1960, for what is now the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbarara, Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Afri ...

(26 June 1969 - 23 November 1991) * Bishop

Paul Kamuza Bakyenga Paul Kamuza Bakyenga is a Roman Catholic priest, who was the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Mbarara, since 2 January 1999. Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 25 April 2020 and appointed Auxiliary Bishop Lambert Bainomugisha as the Arc ...

(23 November 1991 – 2 January 1999 ''see below'') ;''Archbishops of Mbarara'' * Archbishop

(''see above'' 2 January 1999 – 25 April 2020), promoted as Archbishop on 2 January 1999, when Mbarara became metropolitan archdiocese.Paul K. Bakyenga Appointed Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mbarara on November 23, 1991
/ref> * Archbishop

Lambert Bainomugisha Lambert Bainomugisha (born 12 July 1961), is a Ugandan Roman Catholic prelate, who is currently the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mbarara, in Uganda, since 25 April 2020. He was formally installed as archbishop of the archdioc ...

(25 April 2020 – Present), formerly served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese since 2005.

Coadjutor Bishop

(1989-1991)

Auxiliary Bishop

(2005-2020), appointed Archbishop here

References

Sources

catholic-hierarchy

External links

Archdiocese of Mbarara Official Website

Roman Catholic Diocese As of October 5, 2021, the Catholic Church in its entirety comprises 3,171 ecclesiastical jurisdictions, including over 652 archdioceses and 2,248 dioceses, as well as apostolic vicariates, apostolic exarchates, apostolic administrations, ap ...

Roman Catholic dioceses in Uganda Christian organizations established in 1934 Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 20th century

A {{Africa-RC-diocese-stub