A brief History of the Diocese of Jinja up-to-date

Jinja Catholic Diocese was established on 8th August, 1966 by Pope Paul VI. Bishop Joseph Willigers was ordained as the first Bishop of Jinja on 3rd December, 1967. Its Cathedral located at  St. Joseph’s church on Rubaga Hill at the same time it is the seat of the Bishop.

Jinja Diocese is one of 19 Cathedral dioceses in Uganda. It was formerly part of Kampala diocese. It covers the region of Busoga. There are four deaneries, Jinja, Iganga, Kamuli and Budini. Each deanery has four or five parishes. Since the establishment of the diocese, new parishes have been created to make the total number of parishes now 21 in the whole diocese.

The Christian Catholic population of the diocese is  about 334,268 at the last count (with the population count of 2002). This is about 25 per cent of the population of Busoga as a whole. Under the leadership of Bishop Emeritus Joseph Willigers the diocese has seen many developments of the past forty three years to date (2010). The work of evangelization in any diocese is manifold. It entails preaching the word of God, sacramental ministry, education, medical services, the youth apostolate, social and economic development and relief services in times of need such as Uganda has often experiences in the recent past. Bishop Emeritus Willigers has directed this great apostolate with calm guidance and a steady hand over the past.

Bishop Joseph Willigers was born in Gronsveld in the Netherlands on 26th October, 1930. His father, Henry Willigers, was Dutch and his mother, Clare, was Belgian. After his secondary education he joined the Mill Hill Missionaries, so called because their Headquarters are situated in Mill Hill, north Landon. After studying philosophy in Roosendaal, he went there to St. Joseph’s College, Mill Hill, for his theological studies. Together with twenty three class mates, he was ordained to the priesthood by the late Cardinal Griffin of Westminster on 10th July, 1955. Three others of that class are still working in Uganda today, namely; Fr. Damian Grimes, Fr. Henk Vergeer and Fr. Chris Fox.

After ordination Fr. Willigers studied in Rome for three years. He took a Doctorate in Canon Law in late 1959 he came to Uganda where he lectured in Ggaba Major Seminary from 1959 – 1960. He did pastoral work in Naggalama parish for about a year and then he was appointed to Kisumu diocese, Kenya. While there he became Vicar General and Secretary to the Bishop of Kisumu, Bishop Jan de Reeper.

In 1967 Pope Paul VI chose Joseph Willigers to become the Bishop of the newly established diocese of Jinja. He was ordained Bishop by the late Cardinal Emmanuel Nsubuga on 3rd December, 1967. Msgr. Wierts had been acting apostolic administrator of the diocese till then. The area of Busoga had been first evangelized by Mill Hill Missionaries who came here in 1899. This Missionaries Society to which Bishop Willigers belongs still has many men working in this part of Uganda.

Bishop Charles Martin Wamika became the second bishop of Jinja Diocese being announced on 2 Febrary 2010 and consecreted on 25 April 2010. (for his history for his life history confer the following "link"

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Diocese of Jinja is one of the 19 Dioceses in Uganda. It is found in the Eastern part of Uganda in the Archdiocese of Tororo. It is made up of four deaneries namely: Jinja, Kamuli, Iganga and Budini. The Diocese comprises of seven civic districts namely: Jinja, Iganga, Kamuli, Mayuge, Kaliro, Namutumba, and Bugiri. (three others are being created by the government of Uganda: Kidera, Luuka and Namaingo)

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CONTACT INFORMATION

Diocesan Address:

P. O. Box 673, Jinja-Uganda

Telephones:

Bishop's Residence/Office: +256-(0)43-4120247

Administrative block:        +256-(0)43-4122347

Fax:                                +256-(0)43-4123143

Cellular:                           +256-(0)77-2610029