Archbishop Kasujja:First black Papal Ambassador

By Matthias Mazinga

To become a nuncio (ambassador or representative of the Pope) is indeed a marvelous achievement, which does not come so easily.

You should, therefore, not be surprised that for so many years the Vatican never had a native African ambassador. It was not until 1998 that an African was appointed as a representative of the Pope.

And that man was a Ugandan prelate, the Rt. Rev. Msgr. Dr. Augustine Kasujja.

The late Pope John Paul II appointed Kasujja to be his ambassador to Tunisia and Algeria on May 26, 1998.

Just as Archbishop Dr. Joseph Nakabaale Kiwanuka rejuvenated Africa by pioneering the Black African episcopacy, Dr.
Augustine Kasujja also regenerated Uganda and the African continent through this awesome attainment.

But even before being appointed nuncio, Kasujja had spent most of his priestly years in the Vatican diplomatic circles.

His Excellency Augustine Kasujja was born on April 26, 1946 at Mitala Maria in Mpigi district to the late Katalina Nanseko and Yozefu Naluswa. He is the third child in a family of 11 children.

He studied at Ssango and Mitala Maria Primary Schools, before joining Kisubi Minor Seminary (1960 1965). He progressed to Katigondo Major Seminary (1966-67) and Urban University, Rome (1967-74).

He was ordained a priest by Pope Paul VI at St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican on January 6, 1973, for the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kampala.

Kasujja worked as assistant priest at Mubende and Katende (1974-75) and later joined the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (the Vatican Diplomatic School, 1975-79).

Kasujja worked at various Apostolic Nunciatures in Argentina (1979-82), Haiti (1982-86), Bangladesh (1986-90), Portugal (1990-92), Peru (1992-95), Trinidad and Tobago (1995-96) and Algeria (Charge d’Affaires, 1996-98).