Bishop Erasmus Wandera is dead

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Retired Bishop of Soroti Catholic Diocese, Erasmus Desderius Wandera, has died.

Bishop Wandera died on Thursday morning at his residence in Mbale, according to information from the Uganda Episcopal Conference. Tororo Archbishop, Emmanuel Obbo says the cause of death is yet to be established.

“I inquired about my brother’s health on Wednesday and I was told that he was fine. It was surprising to hear about his demise this morning. It could be due to natural causes, given his age but we will wait for the medical report”, he said in a telephone conversation.

Bishop Wandera served as the first Bishop of Soroti Catholic Diocese for 27 years. He was appointed Bishop of Soroti on 29 November 1980, and consecrated on 29 March 1981, by Cardinal Emmanuel Kiwanuka Nsubuga, the Archbishop of Kampala.

Archbishop Obbo succeeded Wandera as Bishop of Soroti after the latter’s retirement in October 2007. Wandera relocated to St. Austin’s Cathedral in Mbale where he lived in his retirement until his death. Archbishop Obbo meanwhile, would serve as Bishop in Soroti for seven years until 2014 when the Pope appointed him Archbishop of Tororo Archdiocese.

After five years without a substantive Bishop, Dr. Joseph Eciru Oliach was elected as the third Bishop of Soroti Catholic Diocese in 2019.

Born on April 6, 1930, in the present-day Busia district, Bishop Wandera was ordained a priest on 27 December 1956.

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