ROME— Pope Francis has appointed Lambert Bainomugisha the new Archbishop of Mbarara Archdiocese, PML Daily exclusively reports.
Rt Rev Fr Bainomugisha, who has been serving as the auxiliary Bishop of Mbarara, takes over from Archbishop Paul K Bakyenga who is retiring.
His appointment is contained in an April 25 letter by Luigi Bianco, the apostolic nuncio.
Bishop Bainomugisha was appointed assistant to Archbishop Bakyenga by
Pope Benedict XVI on 2 July 2005.
Bishop Bainomugisha was born 12 Junly 1961 in the then diocese of Mbarara. He studied in his own country and in Canada obtaining a PhD in Canon Law at St Paul University Ottowa. He was ordained a priest on 13 July 1991 then ministered for a few years in parishes, before going to Canada to complete his studies.
Before being appointed Bishop, he was chancellor of the diocese and chaplain at the general House of the Sisters of Our Lady of Good Counsel and a community of Poor Clares.
The Archdiocese of Mbarara, created in 1999, has four dioceses.
Outgoing Archbishop Bakyenga, 74, in 2018 revealed that he was planning to retire and asked Christians to pray for him so that his wish could be granted.
“The Catholic Church allows us to retire before 75 years because at that age, you do not have enough energy to run the operations of the church. Pray for me so that I can retire before 75 years,’’ he said during the ordination of 12 priests and 12 deacons at Nyamitanga Cathedral Mbarara in 2018.
Archbishop Bakyenga clocked 74 years on June 30, 2018. He said he had requested the Pope to allow him retire because he felt the way he started serving in the church was not the same way he was doing so then.
The cleric was ordained priest in 1971, and consecrated Bishop of Mbarara in 1989. He was appointed Archbishop of Mbarara Archdiocese (covering Western Region) in 1999.
“When I was out of the country, I told Pope Francis that I wanted to retire but he neither accepted nor rejected [my request] so I am asking for your prayers so that Pope Francis can allow me retire because I feel I can no longer move on,” he said.