{"id":73755,"date":"2024-05-20T17:49:27","date_gmt":"2024-05-20T17:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?p=73755"},"modified":"2024-05-20T17:04:42","modified_gmt":"2024-05-20T17:04:42","slug":"archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop Wokorach: 2024 Martyrs\u2019 Day Main celebrant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>An amiable man of God and Comboni missionary is set to preside over the Uganda Martyrs Day Mass at Namugongo on June 3.<\/b><\/p>\n

That man, who cannot be ignored, is Raphael p\u2019Mony Wokorach. His zeal and astute leadership has lifted him up from being a priest to a bishop and now Archbishop-elect of Gulu Ecclesiastical Province, all within a short time.<\/p>\n

The former Bishop of Nebbi Catholic Diocese spent most of his priestly life trekking the jungles of war-torn DR Congo and other African countries for years.<\/p>\n

He lived among the poor and offered love and hope for peace to return to their homes and also preached the Gospel that transformed the lives of millions of people across the globe.<\/p>\n

Wokorach too, in childhood, lived among the poor and grew up in a mud-wattle and grass thatched house.<\/p>\n

Born on January 21, 1961, in Ragem village in Ewuata in Arua District, Wokorach grew up as a humble boy who regularly prayed for his spiritual growth at St Mary Assumpta Ragem, Arua Diocese.<\/p>\n

His family also helped nurture him spiritually till he completed his primary education and joined St Peter and Paul Pokea Minor Seminary to achieve his dream of becoming a priest.<\/p>\n

March 31, 2021, was the day the Apostolic Nunciature announced his appointment as the new bishop of Nebbi Catholic Diocese.<\/p>\n

Martyrs Day preparations<\/b><\/p>\n

This is the second time that Nebbi Catholic Diocese is animating the annual Uganda Martyrs Day celebrations at Namugongo on June 3. The first was in 2007.<\/p>\n

The leadership of Archbishop-elect Wokorach comes in handy, and at a time he is to preside over the Namugongo Martyrs Day celebrations, and later, his own installation as Archbishop of Gulu Ecclesiastical Province on July 12. He will then head he will head Dioceses of Gulu, Arua, Nebbi, and Lira (GANAL).<\/p>\n

\u201cOur preparation is not any other celebration but a spiritual journey, a pilgrimage we are making. You know, sentiments come with high expectations. They come with so many visions and those need to be guided. But I took all those opportunities to serve them, to give them direction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When the Uganda Episcopal Conference announced the news in August 2023, the Christians received it with jubilation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome people said why are you launching it so early? Those questions came; \u2018will people not get tired at the end of it?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my heart, I was also saying well, we move with the spirit. But we should do and refine the things without much pressure because some suggested why not launch it in January or February 2024. So, I thought starting it at that time would put us under too much pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heroic life<\/p>\n

He said celebrating the Uganda Martyrs Day is an honour to their heroic life as Christians.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe honour their faith and it is my wish that we go and celebrate their faith, not anything else. This will impact us and we take the process to the journey of faith,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, even now, we are moving to the Deaneries, we came from one Deanery \u2013Ullepi \u2013 to talk about the theme. It is like the day of recollection with the whole Denary. This has been the second one. Tomorrow, we shall have another and so forth. People should be prepared like that. Yes, we also need other preparations materially whatever it is but the most fundamental I think is the spiritual and we want to take that value.\u201d<\/p>\n

The making of an Archbishop<\/p>\n

\u201cI am the fourth of 11 children. I learnt how to say prayers, learnt to say sorry and we worked together as children. Ours was like a school because it was a big family, especially in a rural area. So, I learnt how to live with people, trying to help others because they would call us for food and we would all gather for it. This helped me a lot,\u201d he said during an interview recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started my journey to join priesthood when I was an altar boy and there was a Comboni Priest, John Troy, who was very eloquent in the local language. He preached about eternal life. In my mind, it was like priests don\u2019t die. So, it attracted me to join the seminary. So, the initial trigger was shallow but in seminary my thinking deepened and I got inspired by the good examples of the work of the Comboni missionaries in our area,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Archbishop Wokorach said people needed to be guided in their choices.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince my ordination as a priest 28 years ago, I was never given the chance to work in Uganda. So, I am coming back as a bishop and it is like Abraham who went to a place he didn\u2019t know; like Mother Mary, who accepted the task in a surprise. And wherever I worked like in DR Congo, Togo, Kenya, USA, and Rome, there were a lot of challenges of security, poverty with sadness in the face of people. This built my conviction,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Nickname<\/p>\n

Wokorach was nicknamed the Ninja by his fellow priests and seminarians because he could push them to do work and succeed in life. Whenever he is riding his bicycle, the friends could call and say; Ninja is passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoy the company of large communities,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Facts on Nebbi Catholic Diocese <\/b><\/p>\n

\u2022 Number of Catholics – 528,178<\/p>\n

\u2022 Parishes- 20<\/p>\n

\u2022 Diocesan priests – 69<\/p>\n

\u2022 Catechists- 997<\/p>\n

\u2022 Major seminarians- 41<\/p>\n

\u2022 Minor seminarians- 20<\/p>\n

Source: Nebbi Catholic diocese as at 2021<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. An amiable man of God and Comboni missionary is set to preside over the Uganda Martyrs Day Mass at Namugongo on June 3. That man, who cannot be ignored, is Raphael p\u2019Mony Wokorach. His zeal and astute leadership has lifted him up from being a priest to a bishop and now Archbishop-elect […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":73753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-73755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nArchbishop Wokorach: 2024 Martyrs\u2019 Day Main celebrant - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An amiable man of God and Comboni missionary is set to preside over the Uganda Martyrs Day Mass at Namugongo on June ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Archbishop Wokorach: 2024 Martyrs\u2019 Day Main celebrant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An amiable man of God and Comboni missionary is set to preside over the Uganda Martyrs Day Mass at Namugongo on June ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-05-20T17:49:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2024\/05\/sm_1716211472.540946.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Archbishop Wokorach: 2024 Martyrs\u2019 Day Main celebrant\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-20T17:49:27+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant\"},\"wordCount\":916,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2024\/05\/sm_1716211472.540946.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Uganda\",\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"culture and art\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/archbishop-wokorach-2024-martyrs-day-main-celebrant\",\"name\":\"Archbishop Wokorach: 2024 Martyrs\u2019 Day Main celebrant - 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