KABALE, Uganda — Thousands of Catholic faithful gathered Saturday at the grounds of St. Ignatius University Kabale (IGUKA) in Kabale Municipality for the episcopal ordination and installation of the Rt. Rev. Bonaventure Bosco Gubazire, M.Afr., as the fifth Bishop of Kabale Diocese.
The ceremony was presided over by the Bishop Emeritus of Kabale, the Rt. Rev. Callist Rubaramira, who served as the principal consecrator. He was assisted by the Apostolic Nuncio to Uganda, Archbishop Tomasz Grysa, and Archbishop Lambert Bainomugisha of Mbarara Archdiocese.
The ceremony was moved from Our Lady of Good Shepherd Cathedral, Rushoroza, to the university grounds to accommodate the large congregation. Diocesan officials had anticipated about 20,000 worshippers.
Bishop Gubazire has chosen “Lux Tua Luceat,” meaning “Let Your Light Shine,” as his episcopal motto.
Representing President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Minister of State for Finance, Planning and Economic Development (General Duties) Henry Musasizi congratulated the new bishop and pledged continued government cooperation in taking development programmes to the grassroots.
On behalf of the president, Musasizi also handed over a Toyota Land Cruiser VXR to support Bishop Gubazire’s pastoral work. He also thanked Bishop Rubaramira for his 23 years of service to the diocese.
Bishop Gubazire, a member of the Missionaries of Africa, commonly known as the White Fathers, returns to a region where the congregation has played a significant role in the growth of the Catholic Church in Kigezi.
His appointment marks the beginning of a new chapter for Kabale Diocese after the 23 year episcopate of Bishop Rubaramira. Rubaramira was appointed Bishop of Kabale on March 15, 2003, and ordained and installed on June 8 of the same year.
On July 15, 2026, the feast of St. Bonaventure, Pope Leo XIV accepted Rubaramira’s resignation after he reached the canonical retirement age of 75 under Canon 401 §1. On the same day, the pope appointed Msgr. Gubazire as his successor.
Bishop Rubaramira continued serving as Apostolic Administrator until Gubazire took canonical possession of the see.
Msgr. John Vianney Sunday, the Vicar General of Kabale Diocese, has described Rubaramira’s episcopate as a period that saw the strengthening of Small Christian Communities and the Bishop’s Annual Appeal Fund.
According to diocesan accounts, the initiatives supported several projects, including a commercial building in Kabale Town, Radio Maria, Centenary Bank branches in Kabale, Kisoro and Rukungiri, and St. Ignatius University Kabale. Rubaramira was installed as chancellor of the university in 2024.
Kabale Diocese was erected on April 17, 1966, after being carved out of the Diocese of Mbarara. It covers the districts of Kabale, Rukiga, Rubanda, Kisoro, Kanungu and Rukungiri and is a suffragan diocese of Mbarara Archdiocese.
The diocese has previously been led by Bishops Barnabas R. Halem’Imana, Robert-Marie Gay, M.Afr., and Rubaramira.
Bishop Gubazire was born on March 3, 1974, in Kitumba Hiika, Rushoroza Cathedral Parish, to Vanansio Gubazire and Solome Bakeihahwenki. He attended St. Mary’s Boys Primary School, Rushoroza, from 1981 to 1987 before joining St. Paul’s Minor Seminary, Rushoroza, where he studied from 1988 to 1994.
In 1994, he entered the postulancy of the Missionaries of Africa.
He later obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the Philosophy Centre in Jinja in 1997 and a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from the Institut Catholique de Toulouse in France in 2003.
His academic training also includes a Master of Arts in Philosophy, specialising in Ethics, from the Milltown Institute in Dublin in 2010, a Diploma in ICT System Support from Andiamo Educational Institutions in Balaka, Malawi, in 2013, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines, in 2020.
Gubazire made his perpetual vows on December 7, 2002, and was ordained a priest on August 10, 2003, at Rushoroza Cathedral by Bishop Rubaramira.
His missionary ministry has taken him to several countries. Between 2003 and 2007, he served as assistant parish priest and director of adult literacy at Nossa Senhora de Fátima in Murraça, in the Archdiocese of Beira, Mozambique.
He later served as a professor, dean of studies and acting rector at Lechaptois Formation House in Balaka, Malawi, where he also served as child protection delegate for the Malawi sector.
From 2017 to 2020, he served as rector of Our Lady of Africa Formation House and held other responsibilities in Cebu, Philippines.
In 2021, he became dean of studies at Spiritan University College in Ejisu, Ghana. He was appointed rector of St. Martin of Tours Formation House in the same town in 2023.
Since 2025, he has also served as a provincial council member responsible for ongoing formation in the Ghana Nigeria Province.
In his maiden address as bishop, Gubazire thanked God for the call to shepherd the people of Kabale Diocese and said he was placing his trust in divine providence.
His ordination comes as Kabale Diocese celebrates 60 years since its establishment, giving the diocese a new bishop as it begins its next chapter.
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