VATICAN CITY — Ugandan Catholic priest and theologian Fr. Emmanuel Katongole has been appointed a consultor to the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, placing him among a group of experts who will advise the Catholic Church on major issues affecting human welfare and society.
Pope Leo XIV announced the appointment on Aug. 18, 2026, alongside the appointment of 11 other consultors from different parts of the world. The Vatican’s official announcement lists Katongole as a professor in the Department of Theology at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, in the United States.
The appointment gives Katongole a role in one of the key departments of the Roman Curia, the administrative structure that assists the pope in governing the Catholic Church.
According to the Vatican, consultors are selected for their expertise, proven ability and prudence. They provide the Dicastery with human, scientific, pastoral and ecclesial expertise and offer advice on issues requiring particular attention. Their appointments are for a five year term.
The Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development is responsible for the Church’s work in areas including human development, peace, justice, migration, health, ecology, humanitarian concerns and the needs of people who are poor and marginalised. It was established by Pope Francis in 2016 and became operational in 2017 after bringing together four former Vatican bodies.
Katongole brings extensive academic and pastoral experience to the new role. He is a Catholic priest ordained by the Archdiocese of Kampala and is a professor of theology and peace studies at the University of Notre Dame. He also serves as director of the university’s Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion and as a core faculty member of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.
His academic work has focused particularly on politics and violence in Africa, reconciliation theology and Catholicism in the global South. He previously taught theology and world Christianity at Duke University, where he was founding co director of the Duke Divinity School’s Center for Reconciliation.
Katongole’s academic journey includes studies in philosophy and theology in Rome and a diploma in theology and religious studies from Makerere University in Kampala. He later earned a doctorate in philosophy from the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium.
He is also an author whose work has examined Christianity, violence, reconciliation and Africa’s social and political challenges. His books include Who Are My People? Love, Violence, and Christianity in Sub Saharan Africa, Born From Lament: On the Theology and Politics of Hope in Africa and The Sacrifice of Africa: A Political Theology for Africa.
The Vatican appointment comes shortly after Katongole took on another major leadership responsibility at Notre Dame. In May 2026, the university announced that he had been appointed director of the Ansari Institute for Global Engagement with Religion, effective July 1.
For Uganda, Katongole’s appointment represents a significant recognition of the country’s contribution to Catholic scholarship and the Church’s work on peace, reconciliation and human development.
He joins 11 other newly appointed consultors, including academics, Catholic Church officials and professionals from Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia and the United States. Among them is Lucy Afandi Esipila, regional coordinator of Caritas Africa.
The appointment also highlights the international dimension of the Dicastery’s work. Its consultors are drawn from different professional and geographical backgrounds so that the department can draw on a broad range of expertise as it addresses questions concerning human dignity, peace, development, migration, health, the environment and social justice.
Katongole’s new Vatican responsibility therefore adds an international dimension to a career that has largely focused on Africa, particularly the relationship between faith, peace, violence, reconciliation and human development.
The Vatican announcement was made on Aug. 18, 2026, and the appointment is for five years.
