By Micheal Atwakiire
Mbarara: Catholics and residents of Mbarara archdiocese are in deep sorrow following the death of the oldest priest in the entire.
Rev. Fr. Bartholomew Kamugyene died at the age of 96 years on Monday evening at Kagango hospital in Ibanda District, due to ill health.
Kamugyene was born born on 1st January 1923 in the family of late Rwishaija and later ordained as a priest on 8th December 1955, being the second priest to be ordained in the whole archdiocese after Rev. Fr. Cyril Mbura, who was ordained on 17th July 1951.
He hails from the Mary Mother of the Church parish , well known as Butare Parish and he is famous at teaching and promoting Latin language in Catholic Seminaries.
He served as a priest with in 60 parishes which include Rugazi, Kitabi, Rubanda, Kabale, Rweera, Nyamitanga, Rushanje, Butare and many others.
Every parish he served in, it was a must to plant there a big forest and the last one was a 40 hectare forest at kitabi which they recently got 140M from it.
He started his education in 1936 when he was 13 years at Kitengure primary school, he later joined Butare in 1937 and then finished his primary five from Ibanda in 1939.
He joined Kitabi seminary in 1940, and later joined Katuguno seminary in Masaka district for almost 7 years.
The archbishop of Mbarara archdiocese on Tuesday September 10 led the mass to pray for the body of late fr Kamugyene at Nyamitanga catholic parish and he will be buried on 11th September 2019 in Nyamitanga at the place where all priests and bishops are buried.
