Representatives from the Central and Mmengo Governments

Members of Staff – teaching and non-teaching

Reverend Fathers, Men and women religious

Parents, relatives and friends of the graduands

Graduands

Continuing seminarians

          Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great joy that I welcome all of you to St. Thomas Aquinas National Major Seminary – Katigondo. Thank you for honouring our invitation to join us today as we hold our annual graduation and commissioning ceremony.

In a special way, I wish to warmly welcome His Lordship, Rt. Rev. Dominic Eibu, Bishop of Kotido. If my memory serves me right, this is your very first visit to Katigondo Seminary since your elevation to the episcopate. Allow me, therefore, on behalf of the seminary, to congratulate you upon your appointment and consecration as the third bishop of Kotido Catholic Diocese. To most of us you were known only by name or hearsay, but your physical presence among us today gives each and every one of us an opportunity to know you in person. Your presence has enabled us to finally put a face to a name.  Thank you so much for honouring our invitation, and for travelling all the way from the north eastern tip of Uganda so as to preside over today’s ceremonies. It is our sincere prayer and hope that the Good Lord who chose you to shepherd his flock in that part of the country will bless your episcopal ministry for the greater glory of His name.

My Lord Bishop, we are aware that not so long ago you lost your dear mother – Victoria Araro. Please, accept our deepest sympathies upon this loss. As a community we prayed, and continue to pray, that her soul rests in peace.

I wish to recognize the presence of the civil leaders from both the central government and Mmengo. I also recognize the presence of representatives from Kalungu District, and from the neighbouring institutions. Additionally, I wish to recognize the presence of some the alumni of Katigondo National Seminary. What you are today is partly due to the formation you received in this place. Thank you for coming back home.

In any institution of higher learning, the graduation day is a moment of harvest. Therefore, I wish to draw our immediate attention to all those people whose efforts and generosity have contributed to the rich harvest we are about to witness. In the first place, I wish to express our sincere gratitude to God for the abundant graces that He has bestowed on our community throughout the Formation Year 2023/2024. We thank the members of the Uganda Episcopal Conference for their continued guidance and support. Your Lordship, please convey our gratitude to your brother bishops when you meet in the coming plenary. We are grateful to the Society of St. Peter the Apostle for the ordinary subsidy that was given to the seminary in the Formation Year 2023/2024. We thank all the seminary’s benefactors for their continued material and spiritual support.

I am heavily indebted to the members of the seminary staff for the tremendous work you have done throughout the year within the various spheres of formation: spiritual, pastoral, academic and human. Thank you for your spirit of cooperation and unity of purpose. Thank you for your availability to the seminarians, and for your readiness to take on extra seminary responsibilities whenever you were called upon to do so. Next month, it will be one full year since I was appointed acting rector in this house of formation. I took on this responsibility with fear and trembling, and of course, with a certain degree of hesitation. But with your advice, cooperation, guidance and community life we have been able to complete our first year of service. Thank you for the unfailing and fraternal assistance to me and the vice rector in the administration of the seminary.

I also wish to express our sincere gratitude to members of the non-teaching / support staff who have taken good care of the seminarians and priests in this community over the past year. You, too, have added a brick to the formation work done in this place; and for this we are very grateful.

 To our dear seminarians, we thank so much for your positive response to formation in  the Year 2023/2024. We thank you for your renewed interest in community life, for your openness to the staff and fellow seminarians, for your patience and understanding. At the beginning of our term of service, time and again, I called for your patience and understanding regarding every issue of concern that you raised. Before your parents and guardians, I am able to stand and say that you have been so patient and understanding; and for this we, as your formators, are very grateful. We pray that as you go back to your dioceses for the long deserved  holiday you may be refreshed, and then come back to continue with the same spirit.

To our esteemed neighbours - Bukalasa Seminary, Villa Maria Parish, Villa Maria Hospital, Kitovu Hospital, Bannabikira Bwanda, Sacred Heart Sisters Kyamusansala - thank you for the good neighbourliness. The Staff of Bukalasa Seminary, please,  thank you for always availing yourselves to assist our seminarians with confessions during the annual retreat and monthly recollections. To Villa Maria and Kitovu Hospitals, thank you so much for the medical care you have given us throughout the year. To the neighbouring primary, secondary and vocational schools thank you for giving our seminarians an opportunity to carry out pastoral work in your schools. The civil leaders and security officers from Kalungu District – thank you for the cooperation and services you have extended to us during the course of the year. Our regular service providers and suppliers thank for your support throughout the year.

We cannot but express our sincere gratitude to the parents, relatives and benefactors of our seminarians. Thank you for giving us your sons to prepare themselves to serve God and His people as priests, and for the support you give them along the way. Your presence at this year’s graduation and commissioning ceremony is indicative of the love, support and encouragement which you render your sons in their desire to serve God as priests.

I now turn to our bagole of the day, namely the graduating class of 2023/2024. Today you are making yet another important step forward in your journey to the priesthood. You are going receive an academic paper as a testimony of this step that you have made, and then be commissioned to go out for the Pastoral – Spiritual Year in your respective home dioceses. As a community of Katigondo we congratulate you upon reaching this step.

          In the Prophetic Call of Isaiah (Is 6:1-8), the Lord asked: Whom shall I send? Aware of his frailty and unworthiness, Isaiah was frightened by the mission that was about to be entrusted to him. God, however, purified him and made him worthy of transmitting his message to the children of Israel. The three years you have spent in Katigondo have been a period of spiritual, pastoral, intellectual and moral purification, thus, making you fit for the mission ahead of you. These years have brought you to a position whereby you are able to firmly say: Here I am Lord, send me. Your formators have equipped you with enough material so as to be of service to God’s people.  Time and again, we have reminded you that some of the pastoral agents who are serving God’s people, for example the catechists, never read the books you have read over the last three years; but they are doing good work out there.  Their impact on people’s spiritual lives is admirable. So, what excuse will you have for failure? Much has been given to you, and much will be demanded from you.

May the Pastoral / Spiritual Year be a period of growth for each one of you. Learning and formation is a process that never ends. Thus, be open to further learning and formation.

As we bid you farewell, we would like to thank you for all your contribution to make Katigondo a better and happy place in which to live. Katigondo has been your home over the last three years, and it will continue to be so for the rest of your lives. You can no longer delete it from your curriculum vitae. You will always be welcome here, and whenever possible we shall give you the assistance we can. We also hope you will continue to contribute to the welfare of your now alma mater.

Once again, thank you all for joining us as we celebrate the fruits of our labour. May your stay in this very historical house of formation be a moment of joy and celebration.

Fr. David Ssenkaayi

RECTOR