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From Streicher to Jjumba: Masaka gets 5th Bishop
The dicocesian Bishop-elect, Msgr Serverus Jjumba.
What you need to know:
New blood: Tomorrow, Severus Jjumba will be consecrated Bishop of Masaka, taking the mantle of leadership from Bishop John Baptist Kaggwa, who clocked the retirement age of 75 last year. Robert Muggaga profiles the other clergy that have occupied the prestigious office since the start of the diocese.
Today, the newly appointed Masaka Bishop, Msgr Serverus Jjumba, is to be consecrated in a grand ceremony at Kitovu Cathedral.
For starters, Masaka Diocese is the one that produced the country’s first two priests in 1913, the first diocese on the African continent to be administered wholly by African clergy and by the first African bishop South of the Sahara.
Besides, Masaka Diocese today has the biggest percentage of Catholics in the country. Out of an estimated population of 1,826,286 faithful in the diocese, Catholics number about 1,077,508.
It is because of all this that Christians from across the country have joined hands to prepare for this big day, with millions of shillings contributed through fundraising drives. The consecration ceremony is expected to cost a whopping Shs700 million.
The history of Masaka Diocese can be traced to as far as 1891, when the Missionaries of Africa, locally referred to as White Fathers, evangelised the region of Buddu (Masaka), with Archbishop Henri Streicher taking over and establishing his headquarters at Villa Maria. Local Catholics referred to Archbishop Streicher as simply “Sitenseera”, having found it difficult to pronounce his French name.
In 1913, Archbishop Streicher made history when he ordained the first native priests, Basil Lumu and Victor Mukasa Womeraka at Villa Maria. Here are the other bishops that have served in the diocese:
Joseph Kiwanuka
He became the first African bishop South of the Sahara after being consecrated by Pope Pius XII on May 25, 1939, in Rome and later appointed to take over in Masaka.
Kiwanuka had before demonstrated the academic tiger in him when as a young priest, was sent to Rome’s Pontifical Angelicum University, where he earned a Licentiate [a licensed preacher but not yet having an appointment] and a doctorate in Canon Law, graduating with a Summa Cum laude [with the highest distinction].
Kiwanuka almost caused a riot among the White students when he beat them all to emerge the best overall student. He thus became a tourist attraction, with many travelling from far to see an African who could accomplish such a rare achievement.
Later, Kiwanuka’s posting as bishop of Masaka hit headlines, for it became the first Catholic diocese on the African continent to be administered wholly by an African clergy.
In 1961, as Uganda prepared for independence, Bishop Kiwanuka was transferred to then Lubaga Diocese and was replaced in Masaka by a young priest named Adrian Kivumbi Ddungu.
Adrian Ddungu
Adrian Ddungu was appointed Bishop of Masaka on November 11, 1961, by Pope John XXIII and consecrated on March 18, 1962, at Bukalasa Minor Seminary. It took him only nine years to make it from a priest to a bishop.
Born on July 15, 1923 at Narozari Parish, Ddungu entered Bukalasa Minor Seminary in 1939, the year Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka was appointed Bishop. He proceeded to Katigondo Major Seminary in 1946.
Bishop Ddungu was a brilliant student, something that compelled Bishop Kiwanuka to send him to Rome’s Propaganda Fide University in 1947 to study Philosophy and Theology.
He was ordained priest in Rome on December 21, 1952, and returned to Uganda in 1953. In 1960, he was sent to Katigondo Major Seminary to teach Philosophy and Pastoral Theology, where he was the only African among the teaching staff.
Bishop Ddungu spent 36 years at the helm in Masaka and retired on January 10, 1998, after clocking the retirement age of 75 years. He died on December 30, 2009.
During his reign, Bishop Ddungu trained and groomed many future religious leaders, notably Cardinal Emmanuel Wamala, bishops Paul Kalanda and Henry Ssentongo, among others.
Bishop Ddungu is remembered as an accomplished preacher, something that compelled Nkumba University, among others, to award him an honorary doctorate
John Baptist Kaggwa
After Bishop Adrian Ddungu, next in line came John Baptist Kaggwa.
Bishop Kaggwa, just like Archbishop Joseph Kiwanuka, has roots in Kampala Archdiocese, having been born in Bulenga on the Kampala- Mityana road on March 22, 1943.
He was a “city boy” and attended Lubaga Boys Primary School, Kisubi Seminary, and Katigondo Major Seminary, before being sent to Rome’s Urban University for Philosophical and Theological Studies. He obtained a Doctorate in Philosophy, Canon and Secular Law.
Bishop Kaggwa was ordained a priest in Rome on December 12, 1971, at the age of 28. After his doctorate studies, he was appointed vice rector of the Pontifical College of St Paul in Rome.
He returned to Uganda five years later and immediately got appointed rector of the prestigious St Mary’s National Seminary Ggaba. Bishop Kaggwa was appointed co-adjutor Bishop of Masaka in December 1994, and consecrated on June 24, 1995.
He succeeded Bishop Ddungu on January 10, 1998 and retired on April 16, 2019.
During his 21-year reign as Bishop of Masaka, he has steered the diocese through rough waters, accomplishing many developmental achievements. Leading by example, Bishop Kaggwa has always encouraged his flock to go for big scale farming in order to alleviate poverty and become self-sustaining. The diocese’s Masaka Diocese Development Organisation (MADDO) programme has made the outgoing bishop so popular. The organisation aims at stimulating and directing sustainable development among the people of Masaka Diocese regardless of their religious affiliations.
Severus Jjumba
After Bishop Kaggwa clocked the retirement age of 75 in 2018, in May, Pope Francis appointed the diocesan Vicar General of Masaka Diocese, Severus Jjumba, as the fifth Bishop of Masaka.
Many believe there couldn’t have been a better choice, for the new bishop’s birth place of Bulondo is just a stone’s throw away from Kitovu Cathedral in Masaka, the seat of the diocese.
The bishop-elect is almost as old as the Republic of Uganda, having been born on August 2, 1962 just two months before Uganda attained Independence from Britain. He was born to an area catechist, Herman Jildo Ssebiranda and Leocadia Namazzi. His father died when Jjumba was just 16.
He attended St Augustine Primary School Bulondo, St Paul Primary School Kitovu and Bukalasa Minor Seminary.
For philosophical studies, Jjumba went to Katigondo Major Seminary before ending up at St Mary’s National Seminary Ggaba for Theological Studies.
At Katigondo Major Seminary, Jjumba’s classmates included the likes of the current auxiliary Bishop of Mbarara, Lambert Bainomugisha and other seminarians that too became priests, such as Lawrence Kalule, Eugene Safari, Benedict Ssebulege, Charles Ssempagama and John Bosco Ssettumba, among others.
The bishop-elect was ordained priest on June 20, 1992 by then auxiliary Bishop of Masaka, Henry Ssentongo. He has been a priest for 27 years.
Before his appointment as bishop, he served in a number of parishes, including Mpambire and Kyotera.
Between 1995 and 2000, he taught at his former school, Bukalasa Minor Seminary, before being appointed diocesan treasurer in 2014. In the same year, Fr Jjumba was appointed vicar general of Masaka Diocese, a post he has held up to the time of being appointed the new bishop.
Masaka diocese in numbers
Area Size: 21, 299 Sq Kms
Catholics: 1,077,508
Number of Parishes: 54
Number of Priests: 272
Number of Nuns: 616
Number of Brothers: 89
