Ebola outbreak halts Bishop Engurait homecoming celebrations
Bishop Engurait, a native of Ngora district under Soroti Diocese, was appointed by Pope Leo XIV last year to lead the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux as its sixth bishop.
Bishop Simon Peter Engurait of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in the United States.
SOROTI - The Catholic Church in Soroti Diocese has cancelled the planned homecoming celebrations for Bishop Simon Peter Engurait of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux in the United States due to the ongoing Ebola outbreak in Uganda.
Bishop Engurait, a native of Ngora district under Soroti Diocese, was appointed by Pope Leo XIV last year to lead the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux as its sixth bishop.
The celebrations, which had been scheduled for June 19, 2026, were expected to attract thousands of faithful, clergy and guests from across the region.
Announcing the decision, the Vicar General of Soroti Diocese, Rev. Fr Robert Ecogu, said the event had been postponed indefinitely as a precautionary measure to protect the public from the spread of Ebola.
“Given the prevailing health circumstances and alerts that are continuing to unfold every other subsequent day, Bishop Simon Peter Engorait will not be able to travel to Uganda as scheduled. In other words, we cannot celebrate his homecoming yet, until the country is declared Ebola-free and we are able to reschedule his homecoming,” Ecogu announced.
He noted that the diocese would communicate a new date for the celebrations once the health situation improves and the risk of transmission has been contained.
“In the meantime, however, let us continue with our preparations and resource mobilisation drives, so that we even get much ready for all the ceremonies and memorial landmarks that we have planned within the homecoming event,” Ecogu advised.
“This is the time now for us to mobilise aggressively for resources to enable us to complete at least the foundation works of the two memorial structures, namely, Bp Eciru Dormitory at Odem P/S and Bp Engorait Pavilion at the Diocesan Events grounds,” he added.
Enguriat is the third Etesot and the first under the new leadership of Pope Leo XIV to be named a bishop outside his native land.
Bishop Enguriat is the seventh of 14 children, comprising 10 girls and four boys. Four of his siblings are deceased. He also has an older sister who is a religious in the Franciscan order and an older brother, Fr Martine Aeko, the Olio Parish priest in Soroti Diocese.