LUBAGA: The Most Rev. Paul Ssemogere marks 1st Anniversary as Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese today.
The Archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese His Grace The Most Rev. Paul Ssemogere will today celebrate his first Anniversary as Archbishop of Kampala where he replaced the late Archbishop Kizito Lwanga who died in 2021.
The humble servant of God Rev. Paul Ssemogerere was consecrated as archbishop of Kampala Archdiocese on 25th January 2022 at a colourful event witnessed by Several Archbishops, Bishops, priests, nuns, special guests, and hundreds of Christians at St Mary’s Cathedral Lubaga.
According to the Kampala Archdiocese social communications office, His Grace Paul Ssemogerere will celebrate the 1st Anniversary with a thanks giving Mass at Lubaga Cathedral starting at 1pm.
Pope Francis named Bishop Paul Ssemogerere as the new Archbishop of Kampala Metropolitan Archdiocese on December 9, 2021. Until that day, the designated Episcopate was the Bishop of Kasana-Luwero diocese.
On April 8, 2021, four days after the death of Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Ssemogerere as Apostolic Administrator for Kampala, a role he has played until his installation as the next Archbishop of the metropolitan see.
Ssemogerere was born on June 30, 1956, at Kisubi, in the present-day Wakiso district. He attended Kigero Primary School before transferring to Kisubi Boys Primary School. He later joined St. Maria Goretti Senior Secondary School Katende, where he completed his ordinary level studies.
In 1976, Ssemogerere and seven other young men became pioneer students of St. Mbaaga Seminary at Ggaba. This was the pioneer class of this seminary, which specializes in training men as priests when they are older and without having attended a minor seminary.
In 1978, the late Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga sent Ssemogerere to the Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the United States, where he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree in 1982. On November 21, 1981, he was ordained deacon by Archbishop Rembert George Weakland, the Archbishop of Milwaukee.
On Martyrs’ Day, 1983, Ssemogerere was ordained a priest and incardinated in the Archdiocese of Kampala. His episcopal journey began on June 4, 2008, when he was elected Bishop of Kasana-Luwero, replacing Dr. Kizito Lwanga who had been elevated to Archbishop of Kampala two years earlier.
After the installation in 2022, the new Archbishop led his first eucharist mass as the ordinary of Kampala Archdiocese joining a special list of three others including Emmanuel Cardinal Kiwanuka Nsubuga: (1966-1990), Emmanuel Cardinal Wamala (1990-2006), and Archbishop Cyprian Kizito Lwanga (2006-2021).
