KAMPALA.The Catholic Church is mourning the passing of Bishop of Jinja, Rt. Rev. Charles Martin Wamika who died Wednesday evening .
He was aged 72.
His death was confirmed by the Diocesan Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Gerald Muto, who said the bishop passed away at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday.
“We invite the clergy, religious, and faithful to keep our fallen bishop, Wamika, in prayer,” Fr. Muto said in a statement.
He added that arrangements for the burial of the deceased will be communicated. Bishop Wamika had been unwell for several years and was recently bedridden due to yet to be disclosed illness.
Born on August 12, 1953, in present-day Budaka District, Wamika began his education at St. Peter’s Claver College before joining Saint Pius X Minor Seminary in Nagongera in 1964.
Available information shows that from the minor seminary he joined Uganda Martyrs National Major Seminary, Alokolum in Gulu for his philosophy studies, and theology at Ggaba National Major Seminary in Kampala. He was ordained a priest on September 22, 1979, for the Archdiocese of Tororo and on October 18, 1993, he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Tororo and Titular Bishop of Tacapae.
He was consecrated on February 19, 1994, by Bishop James Odongo, assisted by Archbishop Emmanuel Wamala of Kampala and Bishop Joseph Bernard Louis Willigers of Jinja. Bishop Wamika became Bishop of Jinja on March 20, 1994, succeeding Bishop Willigers, who retired after 43 years of at the helm of the diocese.
The sucession made wamika the first Ugandan to lead the diocese, which was created in 1966 from parts of the then Kampala Diocese which was ran by the Mill Hill missionaries.
Before Bishop Willigers, the area had been under Bishop Vincent Billington, who resigned when the Vatican reorganized the dioceses of Rubaga and Kampala to form Kampala Archdiocese and Jinja Diocese.