Ugandan-born priest named bishop of Houma-Thibodaux diocese, USA

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Pope Leo XIV has appointed Fr Simon Peter Engurait, a 53-year-old, as the Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana.

According to the Communication Office in the Catholic Secretariat, Fr Engurait was, until yesterday, serving as a priest of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and the current diocesan administrator.

Born on August 28, 1971, in Ngora in Tororo Archdiocese, Engurait attended St Peter’s College in Tororo, and studied at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana. He received a bachelor’s degree at Makerere University in 1995, and a Master of Divinity from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2013 and a master of Business Administration at Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands in 1999.

Fr Engurait was ordained a priest on May 25, 2013.

The Secretariat communication said that Fr Engurait’s appointment was announced in Washington, D.C. on June 5, 2025, by Monsignor Većeslav Tumir, chargé d’ affaires of the Apostolic Nunciature, in the temporary absence of Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Father Engurait’s assignments after ordination include: parochial vicar at the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales in Houma (2013-2015), Saint Genevieve parish in Thibodaux (2015-2016), and Christ the Redeemer parish in Thibodaux (2016-2017). He has served as pastor of Saint Bridget parish in Schriever since 2017.

Engurait also served as the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux’s vicar general (2017-2024), and as moderator of the curia since 2016.

He has served as the Diocesan Administrator since 2024. He speaks English, Ateso, Kiswahili, and Spanish.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux comprises 3,500 square miles in the State of Louisiana, and has a total population of 257,548, of which 75,761 are Catholic. Ends