The parish of Our Lady Consolata in Bweyogerere (Uganda) celebrated on September 28, 2025, the 40th anniversary of its foundation. The Eucharist was presided over by Archbishop Augustine Kasujja, Apostolic Nuncio emeritus to Belgium-Luxembourg, representing Monsignor Paul Ssemwogerere, Archbishop of Kampala.
By Lawrence Ssimbwa *
Several Consolata missionaries concelebrated, together with the Regional Superior of Kenya-Uganda, Father Zachary Kariuki, diocesan priests, and religious from various congregations working in the Archdiocese of Kampala and in nearby dioceses.
In his homily, Archbishop Augustine thanked the Consolata Missionaries for having been, throughout these 40 years, a source of consolation for the people of God: “I thank you for bringing Christ to the people. Thanks to all who have walked with the community and persevered alongside it. Thank you for bringing Our Lady Consolata to Uganda; we hope that her devotion will grow in this church and in Uganda, and that in the future this parish church will become a shrine.”
The Consolata Missionaries in Uganda
The beginning of the Consolata Institute’s presence in Uganda is inseparably linked to the parish of Bweyogerere. The parish was erected on March 19, 1985, by Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, then Archbishop of Kampala, and was entrusted to the Consolata Missionaries. The first parish priest was Father Luigi Barbanti, assisted by Fathers Antonio Rovelli and Benedict Lubega Kiwotoka (the first Ugandan Consolata missionary, ordained on March 3, 1985).
With the celebration of its 40 years, it can be said with certainty that what began as a small tree has become a flourishing one: the fruits of evangelization and human promotion have been numerous, not only within the parish boundaries but throughout the Archdiocese of Kampala and in Uganda as a whole.
Why did the Consolata Missionaries come to Uganda?
In the early 1980s, several requests arrived from young Ugandans who wanted to become Consolata Missionaries, and the need to accompany them in their vocational journey required a presence in the country. For this reason, the General Council authorized the missionaries in Kenya to ask the Cardinal of Kampala for a place in his diocese. Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga responded positively, offering a parish on the outskirts of Kampala, in a chapel that had previously belonged to the parish of Our Lady of Africa, led by the Comboni Missionaries.
On July 9, 1984, the decree of the General Council in Rome authorized the acceptance of the parish and entrusted its care to the Kenya Region, whose Superior at the time was Father Mario Barbero. On March 19, 1985, the feast of St. Joseph, the parish was officially inaugurated by Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, Archbishop of Kampala.
The first missionaries did not find an easy landscape: extreme poverty, AIDS, illiteracy, and the consequences of the civil war. For a long time, the parish was the center of vocational promotion in Uganda and also a model of service in consolation: close to the sick oppressed by AIDS and to the victims of the atrocities of the civil war. In 1985, the war opposed the government of President Milton Obote and the guerrillas of Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who on February 26, 1986, seized power through a coup d’état.
It should also be remembered that when the missionaries arrived in 1985, the Catholic Church in Uganda had only recently celebrated its first centenary (1879–1979), thanks to the evangelization work of the Missionaries of Africa, known as the White Fathers.
The Opening of Other Missions
This parish inspired the opening of other missionary presences in different parts of the country. In 1991, the Vocational Center of Kiwanga was established in the Diocese of Lugazi, and today we can say that many Ugandan Consolata Missionaries were formed there.
In 2004, the Consolata Missionaries went to the Diocese of Kasana-Luweero at the invitation of Monsignor Cyprian Kizito Lwanga. That area had been the epicenter of the civil war that divided Uganda between 1980 and 1986; for this reason, the mission aimed to bring consolation to people who had personally suffered all the atrocities of the war.
In 2018, another mission was opened in the eastern part of the country. This is the parish of Our Lady Consolata of Buluguyi in the Diocese of Jinja. Given the context that characterizes it, this parish was clearly a mission ad gentes.
Finally, in 2022, a chapel of Our Lady Consolata Parish in Bweyogerere, St. Ponsiano Ngondwe of Bbuto, in the poorest outskirts of Kampala, was transformed into a parish.
Today this missionary adventure, which began 40 years ago in a suburb of Kampala, has given life to four other missionary presences in Uganda, through which the Consolata Missionaries evangelize and promote the integral life of Ugandans. It should also be noted that the faith of this first community has grown and expanded in its territory of origin, and in these years three other parishes have been established: St. Gonzaga Gonza of Kamuli, St. Mary of Kireka, and the aforementioned St. Ponsiano Ngondwe of Bbuto. The first two are entrusted to the diocesan clergy, while St. Ponsiano Ngondwe of Bbuto is entrusted to the Consolata Missionaries themselves.
Thanksgiving to the Missionaries
The celebration of the 40th anniversary of the parish of Bweyogerere allowed the faithful to thank the Archbishop of Kampala, Monsignor Paul Ssemwogerere, for having welcomed the Consolata Missionaries and supported them in this 40-year journey, during which many of them have dedicated themselves to the service of consolation and proclamation. Their work is clearly visible in the commitment of the Christians, the families, and the institutions of the parish.
* Father Lawrence Ssimbwa, IMC, Ugandan missionary in Buenaventura, Colombia.
