Rev. Fr. Joseph Sserunjogi (PhD)
Rector
Welcome to the website of St. Mbaaga’s Major Seminary, Ggaba,Kampala. St. Mbaaga’s Major seminary belongs to Kampala Archdiocese, but accepts students from other dioceses inside and outside Uganda.The academic year 2018/2019 opened with a total enrollement of 201 students from over 16 dioceses and different Religious Congregations. In the past we have had students from Tanzania, Kenya, Sudan and Rwanda. So far over 300 priests have passed through this seminary and are active in the pastoral ministry in their dioceses. Among the outstanding old students are two bishops: The Rt. Rev. Paul Ssemogerere, Bishop of Kasana Luweero and the Rt. Rev. Christopher Kakooza, Bishop of Lugazi Diocese.
The original purpose- which the seminary still maintains up to this day – was to cater for late vocations to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Kampala. What actually gave rise to this initiative was the ever-growing number of adults who had not had the chance of attending a Minor Seminary, yet felt the call to serve the Church as ordained priests. The seminary was thus officially opened on 16th February 1976, being put under the patronage of Saint Mbaaga, one of the first 22 Uganda Martyrs, canonized by Pope VI on 18th October 1964.
The site of the seminary originally belonged to the Mill Hill Missionaries. And most of the buildings at this seminary which were built in the 1930s are now very old. With the present number of students our seminary is quite full, as far as accommodation is concerned. The seminary has up to now had three residential houses or dormitories for students, with a total number of 60 rooms. As the number of candidates increased by the years, it became clear that the three houses were no longer sufficient.
With increased intakes, students shared rooms and some structures were transformed into sleep quarters for several years. In 2011 the seminary started mobilizing funds for the construction of a multi-purpose building that would help to alleviate the accommodation challenge at St. Mbaaga Seminary. The new structure was given the name ‘Holy Cross House’” and is now habitable for both staff and students. It was officially inaugurated by His Grace Dr. Cyprian Kizito Lwanga on Sunday 30th September, 2018. The new house has a chapel; 65 single rooms for students; 5 residences for formators; 5 other self-contained rooms/residences for visitors; a 500-seater multipurpose hall and two other 50-seater conference halls. This work has cost the seminary close to two billion Ugandan Shillings. We are thankful to the following donors that granted us the necessary funds to bring this work which has lasted 7 years to completion: POSPA (Rome, Italy); Aid to the Church in Need (Königstein, Germany); the Archdiocese of Cologne (Germany); Missio-Munich (Germany); the Diocese of Würzburg (Germany), the Diocese of Eichstätt (Germany), Fondo Nueva Evangelización (Spain) and the Archdiocese of Kampala in Uganda and several other friends and old boys of St. Mbaaga Seminary.