Bukalasa National Minor Seminary


Bukalasa National Minor Seminary, is a National Minor Seminary for the Uganda Episcopal Conference under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Masaka. The institution is a training facility and House of Formation for middle and high schoolers aspiring to become catholic priests in future. Students primarily come from Uganda but the school has trained students from Kenya, Tanzania, and other neighboring countries.

Location

Bukalasa Seminary is located in Villa Maria, a suburb of the municipality of Kalungu in Kalungu District in the Greater Masaka sub-region in the southwest of the Buganda Region in Uganda. This is approximately, northwest of the central business district of Masaka City.

History

Holy Family Seminary was established on 9 June 1893, by Bishop John Joseph Hirth, Apostolic Vicar of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Nyanza, on the instructions of Pope Leo XIII. "The seminary started at Villa Maria and it operated in grass-thatched huts". It was moved to Lubaga in 1894 and then to Kisubi in 1895. When the Catholic Church obtained a large piece of real estate in the 1900 Uganda Agreement, the seminary was permanently relocated to its place of foundation; at Bukalasa, Villa Maria. The work started by Bishop John Joseph Hirth, was continued by Archbishop Henri Streicher, Vicar Apostolic Emeritus of Uganda.

Overview

Bukalasa National Major Seminary, established in June 1893, is the oldest Catholic seminary in sub-Saharan Africa. Some of the notable alumni include the following: