The Kabale Diocese has announced that Bishop-elect Msgr. Bonaventure Bosco Gubazire will be ordained and installed as the new Bishop of Kabale Diocese on October 3, 2026, at Our Lady of Good Shepherd -Rushoroza Cathedral in Kabale Municipality.
The announcement was made by the Apostolic Administrator of Kabale Diocese, Bishop Callist Rubaramira, in a pastoral letter addressed to all clergy, religious and the faithful dated July 27, 2026.
Bishop Rubaramira said the ordination follows the acceptance of his resignation by Pope Leo XIV in accordance with Canon 401 §1 and the appointment of Msgr. Gubazire as his successor.
The bishop-elect’s appointment was officially announced on July 15, 2026, at Rushoroza Cathedral by Fr. Georges Kwami Kouwonou. On the same day, Bishop Rubaramira was appointed Apostolic Administrator to oversee the diocese until the ordination and installation of the new bishop.
In his message, Bishop Rubaramira called on all members of the diocese to pray for Bishop-elect Gubazire as he prepares to assume leadership of the diocese.
He also urged priests, religious and lay faithful to actively participate in the preparations for the episcopal ordination and contribute towards the organisation of the ceremony.
“The Ordination Committee will be communicating more to you,” Bishop Rubaramira said, appealing for the cooperation of all Catholics in the diocese.
The October 3 ceremony at Rushoroza Cathedral is expected to attract bishops, priests, religious leaders, government officials and thousands of faithful from across Uganda and beyond as the Kabale Diocese welcomes its new shepherd.
Bishop-elect Bonaventure Bosco Gubazire was born on March 3, 1974, in Kitumba, Kabale District, within the Diocese of Kabale. He attended St. Paul’s Minor Seminary in Rushoroza before obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the Philosophy Centre in Jinja and a Bachelor of Arts in Theology from the Institut Catholique de Toulouse in France.
He later joined the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers) and was ordained a priest on August 10, 2003.
Over the past two decades, Bishop-elect Gubazire has served in several pastoral, academic and missionary roles across Africa, Europe and Asia. He began his priestly ministry as Parochial Vicar at Nossa Senhora de Fatima Parish in Murraça, Mozambique, where he also directed adult education programmes and served on the Council of the Missionaries of Africa in Mozambique.
He further undertook formation for formators and spiritual accompaniment at the Jesuit Spiritual Centre Le Châtelard in Lyon, France, before earning a Licentiate in Philosophy from the Milltown Institute of Philosophy in Dublin, Ireland.
Between 2010 and 2016, he served at the Lechaptois Formation House in Balaka, Malawi, as Professor, Dean of Studies, Acting Rector and Delegate for the Protection of Minors. He also completed a Biblical Formation Course at St. Anne’s Formation Centre in Jerusalem.
From 2016 to 2020, he pursued a Doctorate in Philosophy at the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines, while serving as Coordinator and Chaplain of the Friends of Missionaries of Africa, a member of the Council of the Asia Section, and later Rector of Our Lady of Africa Formation House Seminary.
Since 2021, he has been Dean of Studies at Spiritan University College in Ejisu, Ghana. In 2023, he was appointed Rector of the St. Martin of Tours Formation House, and since 2025 has served as a member of the Provincial Council of the Ghana-Nigeria Province of the Missionaries of Africa.
