"God Went to Kitumba and Chose a Bishop”: Fr. Lucas Calls on Kabale Diocese to Let Its Light Shine Through Love.

“God Went to Kitumba and Chose a Bishop”: Fr. Lucas Calls on Kabale Diocese to Let Its Light Shine Through Love

At the Thanksgiving Mass celebrating the Episcopal Ordination and installation of Bishop Bonaventure Bosco Gubazire, M.Afr., at Rushoroza Cathedral, Rev. Fr. Lucas delivered a homily that combined Scripture, Canon Law, local humour and a pointed pastoral challenge to the Catholic community: the new bishop has not been called merely to occupy a chair, but to become a light for a Diocese facing real social and spiritual challenges.

Opening his reflection, Fr. Lucas reminded the faithful that God does not always choose His servants according to human expectations or conventional methods.

“God uses His own method to choose apostles. God has gone to Kitumba and picked a bishop.”

He added that even his own presence at the altar was evidence that God's calling works through ways human beings may not anticipate. He therefore asked the congregation to pray that he would proclaim God's Word rather than his own ideas.

The preacher then turned the congregation's attention to Bishop Gubazire's family.

He thanked Mzee Gubazire and Salome, the bishop's parents, acknowledging the role they played in raising the man who has now been entrusted with the leadership of Kabale Diocese.

With characteristic humour, Fr. Lucas said that if the parents had the strength to stand, the congregation would be able to see them properly and honour them.

He also congratulated the bishop's brothers and sisters, telling them that, in a sense, they had already succeeded because their family had produced a bishop.

But beneath the humour was a serious message about vocation: Bishop Gubazire's journey began not in a cathedral, university or episcopal residence, but in Kitumba, where he was raised.

Bishop Bonaventure Bosco Gubazire was born in Kitumba on 3 March 1974, to Vanansio and Solome Gubazire, and later entered the formation of the Missionaries of Africa. He was ordained a priest in 2003 and subsequently served in several countries and formation institutions before Pope Leo XIV appointed him the fifth Bishop of Kabale in July 2026. 

Fr. Lucas used that history to make a larger point: God can raise a servant from an ordinary village and place him at the centre of the Church's mission.

He even referred humorously to the challenges associated with raising children in such an environment, including the local reputation of the area for muramba, while celebrating the fact that the family produced both a priest and now a bishop.

Missionaries of Africa: “Thank you for giving us bishops”

Fr. Lucas also expressed gratitude to the Missionaries of Africa, the congregation to which Bishop Gubazire belongs.

He noted that Kabale has received important episcopal leadership through the congregation, recalling the ministry of the late Bishop Robert Marie Gay, M.Afr., who served as Bishop of Kabale from 1996 to 2003, before Bishop Callist Rubaramira succeeded him. 

He therefore thanked the congregation for what he described as its contribution to the episcopal leadership of the Diocese.

The cathedral as the bishop's cathedra

Fr. Lucas then moved from the story of the man to the meaning of the office Bishop Gubazire has received.

Pointing to the bishop's place in the cathedral, he described it as the seat of the bishop and a sign of the apostolic ministry entrusted to him.

The appropriate Latin term for the bishop's chair is cathedra episcopalis — the episcopal chair. It is from cathedra that the word “cathedral” derives.

And this symbolism is not merely ceremonial.

The Catholic Church teaches that episcopal consecration gives a bishop the fullness of the Sacrament of Holy Orders. Bishops succeed the Apostles and receive responsibility for teaching, sanctifying and governing the particular Church entrusted to them. 

Fr. Lucas therefore reminded the priests of Kabale Diocese that they are called to work in communion and cooperation with their bishop.

Canon 375 of the Code of Canon Law describes bishops as successors of the Apostles who are constituted pastors as teachers of doctrine, priests of sacred worship and ministers of governance. Canon 391 further gives the diocesan bishop legislative, executive and judicial authority in governing the particular Church according to law. 

Fr. Lucas's language about Bishop Gubazire being the “chief shepherd” therefore carried a clear canonical meaning: the diocesan bishop has a unique pastoral responsibility for the particular Church entrusted to him.

This does not mean priests cease to be priests. Rather, priests remain sacramentally united with the bishop and serve as his co-workers in the pastoral mission of the Diocese. 

“The Apostles were not necessarily educated”

Fr. Lucas then used the Apostles to challenge the congregation's understanding of leadership.

He noted that the Apostles whose successors bishops are understood to be were not chosen because they possessed academic qualifications. What distinguished them was their willingness to learn, work, follow Christ and receive the Holy Spirit.

He contrasted this with Bishop Gubazire's extensive academic formation, which includes a PhD in Philosophy from the University of San Carlos in Cebu, Philippines, obtained in 2020.

His deeper point, however, was that education alone does not make a shepherd.

The real measure of episcopal leadership is faithfulness to Christ, openness to the Holy Spirit and service to God's people.

A direct word to Bishop Gubazire

Fr. Lucas then turned directly to the new bishop, drawing from St. Paul's First Letter to Timothy.

He recalled Paul's warning:

“Let no one have contempt for your youth…”

But the biblical passage goes further. Timothy is instructed to become an example in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, and not to neglect the gift entrusted to him. 

Fr. Lucas applied the passage directly to Bishop Gubazire, urging him never to abandon the gift God has placed in him.

He stressed that the bishop must carry out his ministry with one heart, so that people see not merely an administrator, scholar or public figure, but a shepherd whose life reflects God's work.

And he placed responsibility on the faithful as well:

“Pray for the bishop.”

A bishop appointed into a wounded society

Perhaps the strongest section of the homily came when Fr. Lucas described the environment into which Bishop Gubazire has been sent.

He did not romanticise the new episcopal ministry.

He spoke of people trapped in debt, including those borrowing from one SACCO to repay another. He spoke of poverty, families experiencing conflict, children struggling, overcrowded prisons and the serious problem of alcohol abuse.

His reference to Ndorwa Prison and the drinking culture around Kitumba brought the message directly into the lived experience of the people.

The implication was unmistakable:

Bishop Gubazire has not become a bishop in an abstract theological world. He has become a bishop in a Diocese whose people carry real economic, family and social burdens.

Fr. Lucas then connected those challenges to Christ's own mission.

He referred to the Gospel passage in which Jesus enters the synagogue, receives the scroll of Isaiah and declares:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me…”

The mission that follows is directed toward the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed. 

For Fr. Lucas, this was the theological heart of Bishop Gubazire's mission.

The bishop must proclaim the Gospel in a way that touches wounded lives.

That is why, he argued, the episcopal motto “Let your light shine” is so significant.

“We are the salt of the earth”

Fr. Lucas then moved into one of the most memorable parts of his homily: Christ's teaching about salt and light.

In Matthew 5:13–16, Jesus calls His disciples “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world,” commanding them to let their light shine so that their good works lead people to glorify God. 

Fr. Lucas used the ordinary experience of salt to make the Gospel practical.

Salt seasons food.

Salt has traditionally been used in preservation.

Salt can also be associated with cleansing and preservation in everyday experience.

His challenge was therefore simple:

Christians must prevent society from “rotting.”

If Christians are the salt of the earth, they cannot simply watch society deteriorate through corruption, hatred, poverty, violence, addiction and injustice.

But Fr. Lucas went further.

He asked the congregation whether anyone had ever actually seen “corrupted salt.”

The answer was essentially no.

That led to his memorable theological point:

The problem is not that the salt has ceased to be salt; the problem is what people do with it.

He applied this particularly to priests and Church leaders.

Fr. Lucas did not spare the clergy.

He warned that priests can fail in their vocation when they abandon the Gospel and become entangled in personal conflicts.

He spoke of priests fighting with parish councils, preaching about individuals rather than proclaiming Christ, and allowing internal disputes to overshadow their mission.

The message was blunt:

The salt must remain useful.

The priest must preserve the Gospel's integrity rather than allow personal interests, rivalries or conflicts to corrupt the witness of the Church.

Canon Law similarly places a serious obligation on the diocesan bishop to protect the integrity and unity of the faith and to ensure that the ministry of the Word is faithfully exercised. 

“A city built on a mountain cannot be hidden”

Fr. Lucas then returned to the second image from Matthew 5: light.

A city on a mountain cannot hide.

A lamp is not lit to be covered.

But he immediately warned Christians against misunderstanding the metaphor.

Being the light does not mean seeking attention.

He asked whether anyone could stare directly into a powerful light without hurting their eyes.

The answer, again, was no.

His point was that genuine Christian light should not blind people with pride. Instead, it should help people find their way.

He even reflected on his own nine years of service at Nyamwegabira, cautioning himself against imagining that he alone had built the community.

The true purpose of ministry, he said, is to light the way for others.

And this is precisely how Jesus frames the metaphor: the light shines so that people see good works and glorify the Father in heaven—not the person carrying the light. 

“Let your light shine for God, not for yourself”

This became one of the central messages of the homily.

Fr. Lucas thanked Bishop Gubazire for choosing a theme that, in his view, demands humility.

“Let your light shine” is not a command to become famous. It is a command to make God's goodness visible.

The bishop's achievements, academic qualifications, episcopal vestments and position must therefore point beyond himself—to Christ and to the people he has been called to serve.

From light to love

Fr. Lucas finally brought the homily to its second major foundation: love.

Referring to the First Letter to the Corinthians, he reminded the faithful that Christian ministry cannot survive without love.

St Paul describes love as patient and kind; it does not seek its own interests, is not quick-tempered and rejoices in truth. The passage concludes that faith, hope and love remain, “but the greatest of these is love.” 

Fr. Lucas then made the message painfully local.

He said that when he asked his parish council to identify the biggest problem affecting Christians at Nyamwegabira, the answer he received was:

“Christians hate themselves.”

He described visiting homes where people sometimes ran away when they saw him coming.

That experience, he suggested, raises a serious question:

If Christians cannot love one another, how can priests and religious communities expect to function in harmony?

From 10 Commandments to one command of love

Fr. Lucas also used humour to make a theological point.

He observed that while God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, Jewish tradition eventually developed an extensive body of commandments and regulations.

When Jesus came, He summarised the law around love of God and love of neighbour.

And at the moment of His departure, Jesus gave His disciples another decisive command: to love one another as He had loved them.

Love must become the operating language of Kabale Diocese.

Love among Christians.

Love between priests and their bishop.

Love between clergy and parish councils.

Love within families.

Love for the poor and vulnerable.

Love expressed through service rather than words.

A prayer for Bishop Gubazire—and for the Diocese

Fr. Lucas ended by turning the homily into a prayer.

He called on the people of Kabale Diocese to pray for Bishop Bonaventure Gubazire as he begins his ministry as the fifth Bishop of Kabale Diocese.

The Diocese officially records that Bishop Gubazire succeeds Bishop Callist Rubaramira, who retired in July 2026 after 23 years as Bishop of Kabale. 

He also celebrated the unusual local connection between the two bishops: Bishop Callist was born in Rubira, Kyanamira, while Bishop Gubazire was born in Kitumba, both within the wider Rushoroza area. 

For Fr. Lucas, that geographical connection is more than an interesting coincidence. It is part of a wider story of vocation emerging from the communities around Rushoroza.

The homily ultimately reduced the enormous celebration of a new bishop to a very human and demanding question:

What will his light illuminate?

It will have to shine into families experiencing conflict.

Into communities struggling with poverty.

Into people trapped in debt.

Into young people facing alcohol abuse.

Into prisons and places of suffering.

Into parishes struggling with internal disagreements.

Into Christians who have forgotten how to love one another.

And, above all, into a Church that must continually remember that its light does not originate in itself.

As Fr. Lucas's message made clear, Bishop Bonaventure Gubazire has not been called to shine for himself. He has been called to help the people of Kabale see Christ.

That is the deeper meaning of “Let your light shine.”

And the challenge is not addressed to the bishop alone.

It is addressed to the entire Diocese.

Because, as Christ teaches, the light is meant to be visible—not so that the bearer receives the glory, but “that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly 

Davis Owomugisha Editor and communications Director, KKCRA